NASA Administrator Bolden To Help Open Intrepid Space Shuttle Pavilion

David Weaver

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1600

david.s.weaver@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will attend the Thursday opening of the Space Shuttle Pavilion at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Bolden, who on April 12, 2011, announced Intrepid would receive space shuttle Enterprise, will join museum officials and three of the four original Enterprise pilots at an 11 a.m. EDT ceremony on Intrepid’s Flight Deck, located at Pier 86 (46th Street and 12th Avenue) in Manhattan.

Immediately following the ceremony, officials will participate in a ribbon cutting in front of the pavilion, officially marking the opening of Enterprise to the public. Bolden and Intrepid officials will be available for media interviews after the ribbon cutting, and the pavilion will be open to media from noon until 5 p.m.

Enterprise was NASA's first space shuttle, a prototype that conducted critical tests in Earth's atmosphere in 1977. These pioneering tests paved the way for the successful orbital flights of later shuttles, beginning with the first flight of the space shuttle Columbia in 1981.

For Bolden’s biography, visit http://go.nasa.gov/qawpxG.

For more information about NASA, visit http://www.nasa.gov.

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USS Intrepid Aircraft Carrier at Enterprise Title Transfer

USS Intrepid aircraft carrier which is home to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is seen in the late afternoon on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 in New York City. Earlier in the afternoon NASA transferred title and ownership of the space shuttle Enterprise to the museum. The transfer is the first step toward Intrepid receiving Enterprise in the spring of 2012.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA Astronauts To Visit Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

Joshua Buck

Headquarters, Washington     

 

Luke Sacks

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York

WASHINGTON -- The last crew to fly aboard a space shuttle will visit New York City's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Aug. 18.

Commander Christopher Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim completed a 13-day mission to the International Space Station in July. The STS-135 flight marked the end of NASA's 30-year-old shuttle program.

The STS-135 crew's events are open to news media representatives.

-- 10 to 11:30 a.m.: Presentation to more than 200 students from Intrepid's educational programs (ages 7 - 15) inside the museum's Allison & Howard Lutnick Theater

-- 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.: Meeting with public at two museum exhibits:

     - Journey to Tomorrow traveling exhibit, a 53-foot long, walk-through trailer packed with exciting interactive learning stations on the museum's pier

     - Project Kewl exhibit located in the museum's Exploreum Hall. Project Kewl is an interactive educational game using the Xbox 360 and Kinect sensor that allows visitors to explore the space station, walk on Mars and take control of NASA's coolest robots.

In April, NASA selected the Intrepid as one of four museums to receive a space shuttle. It will be the new home for the Enterprise, currently on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.

During the STS-135 mission, the crew delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, spare equipment and other supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module --including 2,677 pounds of food -- that will sustain station operations for the next year.

For more information about the STS-135 mission and crew, visit http://go.nasa.gov/STS-135.

For more information about the Intrepid Museum, visit http://www.intrepidmuseum.org.

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NASA Announces New Homes For Shuttle Orbiters After Retirement

David Weaver

Headquarters, Washington     

 

WASHINGTON -- After 30 years of spaceflight, more than 130 missions, and numerous science and technology firsts, NASA's space shuttle fleet will retire and be on display at institutions across the country to inspire the next generation of explorers and engineers.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on Tuesday announced the facilities where four shuttle orbiters will be displayed permanently at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program. Shuttle Enterprise, the first orbiter built, will move from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. The Udvar-Hazy Center will become the new home for shuttle Discovery, which retired after completing its 39th mission in March. Shuttle Endeavour, which is preparing for its final flight at the end of the month, will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Atlantis, which will fly the last planned shuttle mission in June, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

"We want to thank all of the locations that expressed an interest in one of these national treasures," Bolden said. "This was a very difficult decision, but one that was made with the American public in mind. In the end, these choices provide the greatest number of people with the best opportunity to share in the history and accomplishments of NASA's remarkable Space Shuttle Program. These facilities we've chosen have a noteworthy legacy of preserving space artifacts and providing outstanding access to U.S. and international visitors."

NASA also announced that hundreds of shuttle artifacts have been allocated to museums and education institutions.

- Various shuttle simulators for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum of McMinnville, Ore., and Texas A&M's Aerospace Engineering Department

- Full fuselage trainer for the Museum of Flight in Seattle

- Nose cap assembly and crew compartment trainer for the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio

- Flight deck pilot and commander seats for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston

- Orbital maneuvering system engines for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center of Huntsville, Ala., National Air and Space Museum in Washington, and Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

For more information about other shuttle program artifacts that are available to museums and libraries, visit http://gsaxcess.gov/htm/nasa/userguide/NASA_SSPA_Pamphlet.pdf.

NASA also is offering shuttle heat shield tiles to schools and universities that want to share technology and a piece of space history with their students. Schools can request a tile at http://gsaxcess.gov/NASAWel.htm.

For a map of the future locations for the orbiters and shuttle artifacts and for more information on visiting the facilities, visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/shuttle_station/features/shuttle_map.html.

For more information about NASA's placement of the space shuttle orbiters, visit http://www.nasa.gov/transition.

For information about the Space Shuttle Program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle.

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