HOUSTON — They say that everything is bigger in Texas and that certainly goes for Space Center Houston's newly-announced space shuttle exhibit.
Space Center Houston, which serves as the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center, revealed plans on Thursday (May 2) to display its full-size space shuttle mockup atop the historic jumbo jetliner that ferried the real orbiters after their return from space and delivered them to their museum homes.
NASA transferred ownership of its original Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified Boeing 747 jet, to Space Center Houston on Thursday, setting in motion the visitor center's plans to pair the replica shuttle it received last June with the airplane that landed in Houston five months later. [How NASA Flew Space Shuttles on 747 Jets (Photos)]
The new $12 million outdoor complex, named "The Shuttle and 747 Carrier," is to open to the public in February 2015.
"The Shuttle and 747 Carrier will give visitors the world's first and only all-access pass to an authentic and realistic journey through the inside of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft as well as an unforgettable experience aboard the full-scale shuttle model," Space Center Houston stated in a release. "The up close and personal access to American aviation history will reveal the shuttle program's amazing ingenuity, clever innovation and awe-inspiring complexity."
Space Center Houston's full-size space shuttle
mockup went on display outside the NASA Johnson Space Center visitor
center in 2012. In 2015, it will be displayed atop NASA's historic
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
CREDIT: Space Center Houston
CREDIT: Space Center Houston
The carrier aircraft is currently at Ellington Field, home to Johnson Space Center's aircraft operations, located about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from Space Center Houston. To get the aircraft to the visitor center, its wings and tail will be removed, and its fuselage will be sectioned in three.
The jumbo jet is expected to be in place at Space Center Houston by this November. The work to hoist the 130,000-pound (60,000-kilogram) shuttle mockup atop the airplane will follow during the first quarter of 2014.
The shuttle mockup arrived in Houston by barge from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, where it debuted in 1993. Known then by the name "Explorer," it was designed and built by aerospace replica manufacturer Guard-Lee, Inc. using schematics, blueprints, and archival documents provided by NASA and the shuttle contractors.
NASA 905 was one of two Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in the space agency's fleet. The final ferry flight for the shuttle program delivered the retired Endeavour orbiter to Los Angeles for the California Science Center last year. The jumbo jet's final overall flight was in December, when it was flown for an hour-and-a-half proficiency flight from Ellington.
Space Center Houston plans The Shuttle and 747 Carrier exhibit to be more than a public attraction, but also serve as the centerpiece for new educational programs to inspire students to consider careers in math and science fields.
Click through to collectSPACE.com for more renderings of Space Center Houston's new The Shuttle and 747 Carrier exhibit and to keep updated on the status of the display.
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.