It won’t be long before Stubby the Rocket isn’t the only spacecraft living in New York City. Unless you’ve been hiding underneath a space rock, you’ve probably heard that NASA’s space shuttle program is being retired this year and as such the space shuttles are all finding new homes in various museums around the country. Yesterday it was announced that New York City will be getting the Enterprise!
Previously, the Enterprise made its home in Washington D.C., but now with a different shuttle moving into to take its place in D.C., the Enterprise is coming to the Big Apple to become part of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum.
Because the Enterprise was a prototype for the shuttle program, it was incapable of actual space flight. However, it does hold the distinction of being the first space-capable vehicle renamed due to a letter writing campaign from certain science fiction television enthusiasts. (The shuttle’s original moniker was Constitution.)
The remaining two shuttles will find homes in California and Florida.
(news via MSNBC, Gothamist, NY Daily News)
Stubby the Rocket is the voice and mascot of Tor.com. Stubby is not jealous about this Enterprise thing one bit. Okay, maybe a little.
Free Space Shuttles…
According to NPR:
Space Shuttle: $0.00*
Shipping and Handling: $29,000,000.00
*Launch vehicle, launch pad, and rocket fuel sold separately. All shuttles sold “as is”, NASA does not guaranty suitability for space travel. Not recommended for children under 14.
This is the coolest thing ever! :) *bounces*
“Yesterday it was announced that New York City will be getting the Enterprise!” Yay you. To some of us it is not so cool. It’s a pretty sure sign to some of us that our neighbors will be out of a job or forced to move in five to ten years. Not only did the Johnson Space Center *not* get a shuttle, Houston’s been ordered to give out most of the shuttle’s training units to the far flung museum facilities that did win. It may mean that Houston, Huntsville, and similar places are simply clearing space for the next program, but nobody really believes that, especially since Kennedy will clearly make room for museum facilities *and* stay a vital launch point. So, once again, yay.
I’m with you, Sihaya, it seems a shame Houston has been passed over for a shuttle.
Sorry, sorry. I don’t mean to be mean, and I’m happy that New Yorkers are celebrating the space program and excited to get such an enormous trust. It will do the country good. I’m definitely not for Texas Senators and Representatives threatening to sue Charles Bolden for a shuttle. It’s tacky, it’s useless and it’s a sign that these guys dropped the ball at some point. It’s just that so many cities campaigned to get a shuttle. We’re crying in our beers not because we’re bad sports, but because this matters. Thanks, Skwid.