NASA on Monday is making approximately 2,000 artifacts from the shuttle-era and earlier spaceflight programs available for display at NASA visitor centers as well as qualified museums, libraries, planetariums and other venues.
The agency will accept requests over two consecutive 21 day periods. The first is open to NASA visitor centers, display managers and the Smithsonian Institution. During the second three-week period, external organizations, including museums, schools and universities, libraries and planetariums can submit requests.
The items will be assigned at no cost. But the recipients must pay shipping and special handling charges.
The gear includes a Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station, a sea going vessel named for the Mercury 7 astronaut and used to simulate space station life and research.
The Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station was used for research, education. Image Credit/NASA image.
The hardware includes shuttle tiles, space suit gloves, plastic food trays, even a shuttle payload bay mockup.
The protective bladder fitted inside the gloves worn by space shuttle astronauts during spacewalks. Image Credit/NASA image.
NASA’s shuttle program came to a successful close on July 21, as the shuttle Atlantis touched down following a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. In all, the program launched 135 flights over a 30-year run.
In an earlier determination, NASA assigned shuttle orbiters Atlantis, Endeavour and Discovery to museums and venues that specialize in the public display of science and aviation artifacts of historic interest.
In all, the space agency anticipates dispensing 29,000 offering. One of the largest is a Shuttle Training Aircraft, a twin engine Gulfstream II jet flown by astronauts to train for the landing phase of their missions. The General Services Administration is facilitating the sale of the training jet and other hardware.
This twin engine NASA Gulfstream II served as a Shuttle Training Aircraft. Astronauts flew the aircraft to simulate the steep approach and landing of the shuttle. Photo Credit/NASA Johnson Space Center image.
About 3,000 of the total number of offerings from the shuttle era and earlier have been requested to date, according to NASA.
Those not claimed will be offered to other federal or state agencies for re-use. Those that remain will be offered eventually for public sale.
NASA’s original announcement.