Homes For Space Shuttles

[Kerberos]

With the end of the Shuttle Era presumably near, does anyone know where the retired orbiters will be put on display?

 

[MeteorWayne]

One will certainly wind up at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum....

 

[newsartist]

One will certainly wind up at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum....

They are too fragile for outdoor display,

I would suggest placing one in the Smithsonian, and shifting Enterprise to Edwards AFB/DFRC, where it actually made history.

I suspect that the other two will go to whoever comes up with the funding to erect a display building first?

Any temporary housing would require that NASA retain at least one of the SCA 747s, for transfer to a final site. I'm not sure if that is budgeted.

 

[drwayne]

They had a boilerplate model outdoors in Huntsville for years, so I suspect that they will not put up the
$ for setting up an indoor display, but I could be wrong.

 

[Testing]

Perhaps one will end up at Dayton, OH. They have a pretty fine collection.

 

[drwayne]

One of my disappointments is that I have not had a chance to go there yet.

 

[Kerberos]

I love Dayton, even if it is the Air Force.

 

[drwayne]

I believe the word is pronounced

Air Farce

 

[Kerberos]

hehehe I love picking on my buddies in the AF. All in good fun, of course.

 

[drwayne]

Of course,, a coworker had a good zinger for the Navy folks:

"There's a reason the put those folks on boats and send them way the heck out on the water"

 

[Kerberos]

hehe :mrgreen:

The non flight-rated guys use to hate it when we referred to the carrier as a boat.

 

[jim48]

Okay. To save time let us forget, as in Just-Put-It-Out-Of-Your-Alleged-Mind that I am the only real, genuine, bonafide, honest-to-God scientist here at SDC. Y'all just imagined that!!! And of course forget that I live in Florida!!! I'm thinking the Kennedy Space Center, hmm? Just a thought.

 

[hewes]

Home for the Orbiters is CALIFORNIA.

 

[jim48]

Home for the Orbiters is CALIFORNIA.

FLORIDA.

 

[hewes]

Eat our rocket dust. C A L I F O R N I A.

 

[kiwigavin]

They are too fragile for outdoor display

..and don't that sum up the whole last 30-year-long dead end...

 

[jim48]

Eat our rocket dust. C A L I F O R N I A.

One for California. One for Florida. Problem solved. Peace.

 

[ZenGalacticore]

I'm going to make a small diner out of Atlantis and serve chili dogs out of it at Kennedy, near the National Seashore.

NewsArtist- Too fragile to be outside? I think you meant too precious, right?

Oh wait. Better idea. Turn two of them each into men and women's public restrooms to represent how Americans crap on their space program. Yeah, pee on it you ungrateful, complacent, spoiled, indifferent, apathetic bastards!

 

[tanstaafl76]

Preferably somewhere with a nice climate that doesn't experience foam storms.

 

[CalliArcale]

hehe :mrgreen:

The non flight-rated guys use to hate it when we referred to the carrier as a boat.

I've seen boats that are about as long as a carrier. Lakers (mostly ore carriers), though ginormous, are traditionally referred to as "boats" because their size confines them to the Great Lakes. Too big to pass through the Seaway. The SS Paul Tregurtha is longer than a Nimitz-class carrier. (By the same token, supercarriers cannot pass *into* the Great Lakes. Anything over 740 ft is right out.) Ironically, these big lakers are on the way out; with the American automotive industry foundering, more of the taconite from northern MN is now going overseas, which means more salties have to come in.

So, boat. Nyaaah.

Oh, and what to do with the Orbiters? Definitely should go in proper indoor museum storage. Just like any other aircraft that we really really really care about. I mean, outdoor exhibits are cool, but they do take a beating from the elements. Even regular stuff like P-51s suffer.

 

[Testing]

I've seen boats that are about as long as a carrier. Lakers (mostly ore carriers), though ginormous, are traditionally referred to as "boats" because their size confines them to the Great Lakes. Too big to pass through the Seaway. The SS Paul Tregurtha is longer than a Nimitz-class carrier. (By the same token, supercarriers cannot pass *into* the Great Lakes. Anything over 740 ft is right out.) Ironically, these big lakers are on the way out; with the American automotive industry foundering, more of the taconite from northern MN is now going overseas, which means more salties have to come in.

So, boat. Nyaaah.

Oh, and what to do with the Orbiters? Definitely should go in proper indoor museum storage. Just like any other aircraft that we really really really care about. I mean, outdoor exhibits are cool, but they do take a beating from the elements. Even regular stuff like P-51s suffer.[/quote]

Of corse one should come home. Perhaps the Ewards Museum could house one. As to the boat vs ship question:

A boat can fit into or can be carried by a ship but not vice versa.
Size is not the only determinant. Boats are usually used either on rivers or lakes, or near the coast, and rarely make transoceanic voyages. Boats also are usually specialized (fishing, yachting, etc.). A ship is larger and has one continuous main deck. Older definitions refer to the type, size and number of sails, but that's old-fashioned. THE ABOVE IS NOT THE CORRECT ANSWER. VIKINGS HAD LONG BOATS AND THE GERMANS HAD U BOATS SO ITS NOT THELENGTH A BOAT HAS ONE CONTINUOUS DECK. A BOAT BECOMES A SHIP WHEN IT HAS MORE THAN ONE DECK.

A ship carries a boat "lifeboats", a boat does not carry a boat "lifeboats".

Not exactly...according to the United States Navy a boat is "A small craft capable of being carried aboard a ship." (NAVEDTRA 14325, pg. AI-2). But hold on, in true navy fashion the same manual gives a different definition on page 7-5 it says, "The term boat refers to a noncommissioned waterborne vessel that is not designated as a service
craft.


A ship is a "Any large vessel capable of extended independent operation." (pg. AI-11)

 

[MeteorWayne]

Thank you for thoroughly muddying the waters, so to speak, testing :lol:

 

[ZenGalacticore]

Hey now!! The P-51 Mustang was anything other than a "regular" plane!!! We're talking about the best all round fighter of WWII here!!!!

(I'm also partial to the Spitfire, the Me 262, and of course the Me 109.)

But the P-51 could actually go faster than the 262 in a dive.

 

[newsartist]

When a big storm is coming, boats head for port. Ships leave port for the open sea.