That's right Texas bitches, we're getting another shuttle!

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Thirty years after the first space flight of the iconic US shuttle program, NASA announced on Tuesday where the retiring orbiters would take their final resting places as museum pieces.

NASA's declaration sparked anger in Texas, the home of mission control in Houston, which was left out in favor of New York, Florida, Virginia and California. One key Texas senator slammed the move as political and misguided.

Discovery, the oldest space shuttle of the fleet, will land at the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center, a branch of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space museum in Virginia, NASA administrator Charles Bolden said.

Atlantis, set to be the final shuttle to fly in June before the US space shuttle program closes, will make its permanent home at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, host of repeated shuttle launches in the past three decades.

Glad we're getting an actual orbiter in place of that fucking paper weight that we have now. Sending that one up to NY.

Wonder how the thing gets to New York? FedEx?

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"...your suffering will be legendary even in Hell!"

It'll be cool to watch Enterprise leave and Discovery arrive at Dulles on the piggyback 747. I'll have to keep an eye on the news to find out when they're doing the transfers.

Pinhead the Cenobite Wrote:
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> Wonder how the thing gets to New York? FedEx?


By plane. Here's the pilot.


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http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/13-11.htm

Pinhead the Cenobite Wrote:
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> Wonder how the thing gets to New York? FedEx?


I-95 North to the NJ Turnpike.

Pinhead the Cenobite Wrote:
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> Wonder how the thing gets to New York? FedEx?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/publicresourceorg/493885189/in/set-72157600215541065

Yah, but I doubt a 747 can fit very well down 11th avenue in NYC.

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"...your suffering will be legendary even in Hell!"

Pinhead the Cenobite Wrote:
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> Yah, but I doubt a 747 can fit very well down 11th
> avenue in NYC.


It would actually go down 12th if on wheels. My guess is a barge right up the Hudson.

I'm guessing they fly it into JFK and then truck it up to the Intrepid Museum late at night.

... or barge. That's probably more likely. Good call, tony.

Ut videam Wrote:
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> Pinhead the Cenobite Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Wonder how the thing gets to New York? FedEx?
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/publicresourceorg/493
> 885189/in/set-72157600215541065


I wonder how many bungee cords it took to strap it down.

Ut videam Wrote:
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> I'm guessing they fly it into JFK and then truck
> it up to the Intrepid Museum late at night.


Or Newark I guess. Both are on the water.

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"...your suffering will be legendary even in Hell!"

Ralph Pootawn Wrote:
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> I wonder how many bungee cords it took to strap it
> down.

Pinhead the Cenobite Wrote:
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> Or Newark I guess. Both are on the water.

Right on. Newark is probably the better guess, as it's immediately adjacent to the Newark harbor facilities.

Pinhead the Cenobite Wrote:
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> Wonder how the thing gets to New York? FedEx?

On top of one of these things. It should arrive in approximately one piece...
Attachments:

I head they are going to auction it off.....

Any idea what it may be worth..... I am considering to bid.

How much money will be wasted overall to transfer the Enterprise to NYC ? The Smithsonian already has a shuttle. And fuck sakes, it's a pretty important piece to have considering its role as a test bed.

They're going to have to put numerous historical artifacts at risk (including the shuttle) due to the logistics of moving the Enterprise out, disrupt the museum operations, move a bunch of shit out of the way to move their centerpiece, lift the mofo onto a 747 to fly it to NY... all to replace it with a fucking object that looks exactly the fucking same.

I actually like the Enterprise, because it represents a unique piece of Shuttle history. Like Ut videam said, I hope to catch Discovery as it's being flown it to Dulles. The last time I was out at the Air & Space Museum I was with some aerospace experts (Guys who know every damn thing about aircraft), and I'd like to send them some footage of it.

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"And if any women or children get their legs torn off, or faces caved in, well, it's tough shit for them." -2LT. Bert Stiles, 505th, 339th (On Berlin Bombardier Mission, 1944).

anybody remember the afternoon when they brought Enterprise to town?

I remember they circled the Beltway twice with it piggybacked on that 747

TOTALLY AWESOME seeing it like that!

What a fucking waste.

Let's keep the Enterprise here.

The protest movement starts now.

I didn't realize the Enterprise had been sitting around at Dulles since 1983. But this does remind me of something I vaguely remember when I was really young and 1983 seems about when I remember. I remember talk about seeing the shuttle fly by on a plane but I had no idea it was going to Dulles. All I knew was that shuttles were flown back to FL like that and I figured it was something to to with that.

Seems pointless to move them around like this. It's not cheap either.

I went to Udvar H. for the first time last month. It was spectacular. Also, randomly, the McDonald's there is delicious. I know it sounds odd, but that place rocks.

Shut up. I am perfectly happy with Nasa's cash going towards New York getting our sloppy seconds prototype while we get the real-mutha-fuckin-deal.

"it's a pretty important piece to have considering its role as a test bed" ... "all to replace it with a fucking object that looks exactly the same."

You toolbag! We're getting a shuttle that was actually IN SPACE! You know, that thing above the atmosphere with all the pretty stars in it. The Enterprse is cool, but it got dropped off the back of a 747 and landed. Discovery was IN MUTHAFUCKIN' SPACE!

I just hope that when we send the Enterprise to New York, someone slaps a Go Capitals bumper sticker on it after we get done slapping those stRangers down in 5 games.

sheeeesh Wrote:
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> How much money will be wasted overall to transfer
> the Enterprise to NYC ? The Smithsonian already
> has a shuttle. And fuck sakes, it's a pretty
> important piece to have considering its role as a
> test bed.
>
> They're going to have to put numerous historical
> artifacts at risk (including the shuttle) due to
> the logistics of moving the Enterprise out,
> disrupt the museum operations, move a bunch of
> shit out of the way to move their centerpiece,
> lift the mofo onto a 747 to fly it to NY... all to
> replace it with a fucking object that looks
> exactly the fucking same.

I have friends in NYC, I called them and told them to suck it because they are getting our sloppy-seconds non-Space Shuttle and we're trading up to the real thing.

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Wait...the shuttle at Udvar Hazy is real??? I always thought it was a mock up. It looked like it was made of packing peanuts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Enterprise

I don't think packing peanuts would have survived this-




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2011 10:50AM by justsayin.

How many spent fuel rods do you think will fit into Discovery's cargo bay? I say we jam as many as will fit, seal it up, take some pictures for posterity and send it on it's final mission. Plan a good flight path (over the middle east just in case something goes wrong). Once in space, point it toward the sun and let gravity do its thing! Now, if this plan happens to somehow extinguish the sun, I will deny ever posting here.

Idea Man:

The space shuttle is not capable of leaving Earth orbit. It usually only goes about 200 miles up, has never been further than about 385 miles up, and probably has a theoretical max of about 600 miles assuming there wasn't much cargo at all. Seeing as there still is a tiny bit of atmospheric drag even this high, anything you put in those orbits is eventually going to run out of fuel and come back. It won't be able to go to the sun, or the moon. Plus, the risk that a Challenger-style launch mishap would blanket Florida in nuclear waste would make your idea a non-starter.

I wonder if they will allow people to go inside the shuttle or not?

Flyin in on April 17th:

>>> "...The National Air and Space Museum stated last week that Discovery would
>>> arrive at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC on April 17 and then
>>> be transferred to its annex, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center located adjacent
>>> to the airport two days later..."

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-013012a.html

NASup Wrote:
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> we're getting another shuttle!

And they're having a practice run by T38s tomorrow in preparation for the April 17th arrival.

Flying at a rather low 1500 feet!

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/T-38-Jets-to-Fly-Over-DC-146138885.html

Ok, time to admit the geek factor is here. I am thrilled by Discovery, coming here. First to flight after both disasters, and we now have a orbiter that's been in space.


Plus, we didn't win a internet :)

if it is flying in on the 17th , what would be the best place to see it?

The end of the runway off of the toll road? is there a hill nearby?
what about off 606 near the weather station? Maybe even 606, near the 606/28 interchange.

any one know what runway they would use? I am guessing the longest one.


Just read this in that article , freakin cool !

"The T-38s will help determine the viability of possibly flying Discovery around the Washington metro area before landing at Dulles International Airport."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2012 06:30PM by Take a Stand.

Might depend on the direction of prevailing winds that day - so we may not find out until that day.

Berdhuis Wrote:
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> Might depend on the direction of prevailing winds
> that day - so we may not find out until that day.

Yup - those are usually out of the north(ish) so the shuttle likely will land south to north.

[googling for prevailing winds it appears 310 degrees is it - NW]

This is an image I took standing in the middle of the road outside my Sully Station home of a (very) large plane (A380) landing south to north at Dulles - would be way cool if the shuttle was on same landing path:



See the thread:

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/594186/594186.html#msg-594186

for ideas on where to stand.