NASA has waved off revealing where its soon-to-be-retired space shuttles will be making their final landings for public exhibit.
A combinations of events, including delayed launch dates and congressional acts that proposed adding at least one more mission to the two shuttle flights remaining, resulted in the space agency postponing its selection of museums where its winged orbiters will go on display once they are retired.
A July announcement on the final homes for the shuttles had been anticipated since January of this year, when NASA made a last call for shuttle suitors.
"They haven't established a new date," NASA spokesman Mike Curie told CollectSpace.com. "Because of delays to the manifest, shifting STS-133 to November and STS-134 to February, the announcement was also delayed."
NASA had originally intended to retire the shuttles Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour by the end of 2010, but more time was needed to process the payloads for its final two planned missions. [NASA Delays Shuttle Program's End to 2011]
Space shuttle Discovery, which has been promised to the Smithsonian since 2008, was slated to fly its last flight, STS-133, in September — but more time was required to prepare the storage module it will add to the International Space Station.
Endeavour, which together with the shuttle Atlantis remains to be assigned to a museum, was set to fly in the November time frame during which Discovery will now launch. Its flight with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is now targeted for no earlier than February 2011.
For the 21 organizations NASA says are in the running for an orbiter, the delay has given rise to what appears to be a heightened sense of competition, with the rate of press releases, public petitions and dedicated websites increasing and even a groundbreaking for a facility to display a hopefully-awarded shuttle.
The museums and NASA visitor centers have also turned to members of Congress from0 their respective states, adding a political component to the decision that the space agency needs to now also take into consideration.
"That will have to sort itself out as well," said Curie.
Priority consideration vs. competition
When the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation released its approved text of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 on July 15, the bill included a section devoted to the "disposition of orbiter vehicles."
The bill, which was championed by senators from Florida and Texas, went beyond directing the NASA Administrator to decommission the shuttle fleet in a means consistent with other surplus government property. It also specifically gave "priority consideration" to museums located in areas sharing "an historical relationship with either the launch, flight operations or processing" of the orbiters.
That provision amounted to Florida and Texas trying to make an "end run" around NASA's competitive process, according to the National Aviation Heritage Alliance of Dayton, Ohio. The not-for-profit organization, which represents the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force as well as other Ohio-area aviation sites, urged elected officials to change the text before the House of Representatives could adopt similar language.
So when the House Committee on Science and Technology finalized the text of its companion bill on July 22, the wording was amended. Though still making mention of an historical relationship with the space shuttle orbiters, the House called for a competitive process "that takes into account geographical diversity."
"With the help of the entire delegation it was possible to have the amendment pass and ensure that a decision will be made that reflects the entire contributions of the nation to the shuttle program and not just those of two states," John Bosch, chair of the National Aviation Heritage Alliance, said in a statement. "We recognize this remains a very competitive process, and that's how it should be until a final decision is made by NASA."
Even when the decision is ultimately made, the chosen museums may still need to wait longer to receive a shuttle, due to a provision agreed upon in both the House and Senate bills. Both chambers called for an addition of a shuttle mission to NASA's manifest to fly no earlier than June 2011.
The bills need to be voted on by the full Senate and House — now not expected until September at the earliest — before their differing texts can be worked out in conference and the act can be passed into law.
Signatures and shovels for shuttles
Not everyone is waiting on Congress. Museums in Florida, Texas, Ohio and elsewhere are continuing to step up their public campaigns to bring a space shuttle to their facility.
Space Center Houston's "Bring the Shuttle Home" petition campaign, which began in July, has to date nearly 15,000 signatures on letters and e-mails urging President Barack Obama to support displaying a retired orbiter at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas.
The Intrepid Sea, Air and Museum in New York City has collected over 128,000 signatures since March supporting landing a shuttle on — or at least next to — the modified aircraft carrier-turned-museum.
The Museum of Flight in Seattle launched a similar petition effort recently, but also traded their pens for shovels, breaking ground June 29 for the construction of a new $12 million, 15,500-square-foot "Human Space Flight Gallery" designed to showcase a shuttle, if awarded.
"The shuttle is among the rarest of space artifacts," interim museum president Michael Hallman said in a statement released at the time of the ceremony. "The possibility of securing one is very exciting, and would be a tremendous opportunity for the state of Washington in terms of the economy, tourism and the educational impact this could have on our community."
Other museums competing for a retired shuttle include the Tulsa Air and Space Museum in Oklahoma; the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History in Bryan, Texas; the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Ore.; the California Science Center in Los Angeles; and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
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to learn which museums are receiving NASA's full-scale shuttle simulators and view the updated photo gallery: