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Museums jostled publicly  for one of coveted shuttles

NASA decision due today on who gets space shuttles

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer Updated 7:21 AM Tuesday, April 12, 2011

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The competition for NASA’s space shuttles has offered a rare opportunity to observe museums jostling for position to receive the coveted artifacts.

“They’re the Mona Lisas of aviation,” said Mike Hallman, vice chairman of the board of trustees of Seattle’s Museum of Flight, one of 21 institutions contending for an orbiter.

It was an unusually public competition between the museums for NASA’s favor to be awarded an orbiter for permanent display, said Robert Pearlman, founder and editor of www.collectSPACE.com, a website for space history enthusiasts.

NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. is to announce his decision from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., at about 1:30 p.m. today on which institutions are the winners. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is among the contenders.

Bolden, a former shuttle astronaut and retired Marine Corps major general, was given broad discretion. For months, Bolden has been the focus of intense lobbying by supporters of the competing sites..

If the Air Force museum is chosen, its supporters have said they believe having an orbiter could boost the current annual attendance of 1.3 million people to more than 2 million. The museum offers free admission and parking, unlike many of the competing sites.

Officials of the Air Force museum invited the public and local officials in to watch today’s announcement live on a NASA television feed.

U.S. Reps. Steve Austria and Mike Turner, both Republicans whose districts split Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, are expecting courtesy calls from Bolden shortly before the announcement, spokesmen for the congressmen said Monday.

NASA has said it would give an orbiter, thought to be Discovery, to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum which would then reassign Enterprise, which it now displays. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is considered a strong candidate to be awarded an orbiter.

The Air Force museum faces stiff competition for the remaining orbiter and Enterprise. Prominent rivals include Space Center Houston, the visitor center of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston; New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum; Seattle’s Museum of Flight, California Science Center in Los Angeles and Chicago’s Adler Planetarium.

What’s at stake

The Air Force museum is among 21 sites vying three orbiters that flew in space and another that was used for testing.

Local officials estimate the spacecraft could double the Air Force museum’s annual attendance of 1.3 million and lead to 650-700 jobs and $40 million annually in additional economic activity.

NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. is to announce the winners about 1:30 p.m. today.

Complete team coverage

The Dayton Daily News, WHIO-TV and WHIO Radio will provide complete coverage of the shuttle decision on DaytonDailyNews.com, TV digital channels 7.1 and 7.2 and whiotv.com, 1290 AM and 95.7 FM, and in Wednesday’s edition of the newspaper.