Source: MSNBC
The Kansas Cosmosphere is hoping to cash in on a very rare opportunity. Hundreds of NASA artifacts are up for grabs with the space shuttle ends later this year. Many should end up in Kansas, but we won’t land the big prize.
It’s the most familiar item in NASA’s shuttle program and soon all three orbitors, the Discovery, Edeavour and Atlantis, will be looking for a new home. But getting one will cost big bucks.
“With the land purchase, with the building purchase, with the building construction, we stopped counting at $80 million,” said Chris Orwoll, Kansas Cosmosphere president and CEO.
And that doesn’t include the cost of getting it here, which would be difficult considering an orbitor weighs 170,000 pounds.
The Cosmosphere also took into consideration it already has a full-scale replica of the Endeavour in the lobby, which visitors can see when the walk in the front door.
In the end, the Board of Directors decided it wasn’t worth the price, especially since NASA won’t allow visitors to go inside the shuttle. But the Cosmosphere will be getting other important artifacts.
“Some of the rescue equipment from the shuttle, from not only the launch pad but also the interior of the shuttle, we’ve gotten camera systems, some of the training equipment, we’ve gotten some of the clothing,” Orwoll said.
And Orwoll is hoping to secure some even bigger items.
“We’re waiting to hear on the main engines, which are one of the key things that we want, but we’re pretty sure we’re going to get some of those,” he said.
Those would take a while to get here, but visitors can expect to see some of the new shuttle artifacts land at the Cosmosphere by the end of the year.
The Cosmosphere is also putting the finishing touches on a new shuttle gallery, which is set to open this fall.
To read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37649818