In a few months, the final flight of the space shuttle will take place, and we will reach an end of an era. The orbiters will retire, having provided a means to make travel to low Earth orbit almost routine (although each flight is treated as an experimental test flight), the orbiters will take a well deserved rest as they are scattered around the country to be placed on display. A well publicized competition took place to determine those display locations (resulting in a few lawsuits from those who disagreed with the decision), and last weeks poll asked which orbiter would wind up closest to where you lived.
While the breakdown was very close, it offers some interesting insight. If we assume the OLC is a good analog for the US population as a whole, it appears the placement provides the best opportunity for everyone to see an orbiter. It would have been nice to have had one more orbiter to offer (I still miss Columbia!), but it looks like the judgement in placement was sound.
Most of you will be closest to Endeavour, which will be located in a new wing at the California Science Center in Los Angelos, CA. Joining the Mercury MR-2 (which launched space-chimp Ham), Gemini IX, and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project command module, the orbiter will be close to it's home in Palmdale, where it was built 25 years ago.
It was almost a toss up between the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the Smithsonian's Stephen Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. The Smithsonian is the only museum to have display space already available (that is, once Enterprise is rolled out), and Discovery will find home in a large hanger filled with space artifacts, including the Gemini VII spacecraft. KSC will need to build a new facility, which will be matched with its Shuttle Launch Experience into a comprehensive display. You will enter into a preshow on the history of the orbiter, then walk into the display area where the orbiter will appear to be in orbit above a rotating Earth. On the main floor will be displays about Hubble, ISS, and other factors in STS history. Then, you can go take a (virtual) ride on one. I can't wait!
Finally, Enterprise will be placed on the dock adjacent to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. A new glass dome will be built to protect the orbiter and provide display space. This placement has created the most controversy, but other artifacts, such as simulators and trainers, will wind up in Seattle's Museum of Flight and Chicago's Adler Planetarium. What is your take? You can continue to comment in the Discussion Board, and share you opinion on the placement.
This week's poll asks where you have spent the longest in microgravity. You feel microgravity swinging on swing (for an instant) or diving off a board, but you can feel upwards of a second or two on some amusement park rides. Or has anyone taken a plane flight that lets you feel weightless? Take the poll, and then tell of your experience on the DB!
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