This is just wrong - no shuttle in Houston

[Fear_Itself]

@boytyperanma

With their libertarian views why would anyone expect they would pay for up keep of this public treasure? I’m picturing it ending up in a desert with tumbleweed blowing by because no one was willing to pay for that socialist shuttle to be taken care of.

Well, they would probably put it up on cinder blocks, or turn it in to BBQ smoker. Mmm, space brisket.

[Dewey_Finn]

@El_Kabong

Regarding Houston, I understand the sentiments, but even though (or maybe because) I live in the area, this is simply not an ideal place for the long-term storage of delicate artifacts. The Saturn V diisplayed at Johnson was just recently brought back from the brink of disintegration, at a premium price, after being left to molder outdoors for decades. Even if a preserved shuttle were to be housed indoors, the massive destruction at the Lone Star Flight Museum down the road in Galveston, during Hurricane Ike, must give one pause. I’d be leery of Kennedy due to these considerations as well.

I read that NASA required that any museum competing for the shuttles had to make arrangements to keep them indoors, specifically to avoid that problem with the Saturn V.

[lieu]

The agency (NASA) told the interested sites that they would have to pay $28.8 million for preparation and delivery of a shuttle. Space Center Houston and its supporters are prepared to raise that amount, plus almost $50 million on top of that to construct a new building that would house a shuttle and other space program artifacts, Allen said.

I don’t think housing it was going to be an issue.

It is a shame that with NASA’s large population in Clear Lake lobbying for the site that their wishes were not realized. And that dipshit Perry did Texas no favors with his isolationist, hands off, grandstanding rhetoric. What a contemptable prick.

No matter, it’s done and I hope the largest crowds possible will enjoy the new venues. It will though be a bit of a drive if you live anywhere between… say… Nevada and Pennsylvania.

[Dewey_Finn]

Yes, but between Florida, New York, Los Angeles and Washington, they’ve placed the shuttles at probably the biggest tourist areas of the country.

[bucketybuck]

How big are the space shuttles?

Am I right in saying the Intrepid museum in New York is an aircraft carrier? (Well, I know it is, I was on it, but is there another site or something?)

So, where will they put the thing? I know it would probably fit on the flight deck, but will it not take up an in-ordinate amount of space and rule out a ton of other exhibits? Or will they put it on land beside the Concorde?

[Dewey_Finn]

It’s going to be in a building on Pier 86 in Manhattan.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@El_Kabong

Even if a preserved shuttle were to be housed indoors, the massive destruction at the Lone Star Flight Museum down the road in Galveston, during Hurricane Ike, must give one pause. I’d be leery of Kennedy due to these considerations as well.

I assume the Lone Star Flight Museum was destroyed by flooding, rather than the hurricane per se. That’s not really an issue in Florida (global warming notwithstanding).

Anyway, the shuttles were all here when they were actually in service. Doesn’t really make sense to say they’re in too much danger here now that they’re museum pieces.

Plus, the Saturn V that’s been on display at the KSC visitor center since 1996 is in perfect condition.

@bucketybuck

How big are the space shuttles?

Not very. Concorde is 62m long with a 26m wingspan. The shuttle orbiters are all slightly different sizes, weirdly, but they’re all roughly 35m long and 25 across. A Gulfstream V is a much closer comparison, at about 30m long with a 28m wingspan.

The orbiters are significantly taller than Concorde, at 17m at the end of the vertical stabilizer versus 12m.

Now, this is all kind of academic if they’re going to be displaying external tanks and SRBs alongside the orbiter. The tanks are 47m long and about 10m across, so if they display the whole thing mounted for launch it will be 27m tall.

[lieu]

@bucketybuck

Am I right in saying the Intrepid museum in New York is an aircraft carrier? (Well, I know it is, I was on it, but is there another site or something?)

So, where will they put the thing? I know it would probably fit on the flight deck, but will it not take up an in-ordinate amount of space and rule out a ton of other exhibits?

Now that would be cool, a Shuttle on an Aircraft Carrier… with a tailhook grabbing the middle arrestor cable.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

I think we’ve all been dancing around the real question: what happens if they put one on a treadmill?

[joebuck20]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

I think we’ve all been dancing around the real question: what happens if they put one on a treadmill?

Maybe the Mythbusters can try it out.

[Death_of_Rats]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

I think we’ve all been dancing around the real question: what happens if they put one on a treadmill?

It gets winded really quick. The shuttles have really bad cardiovascular conditioning.