Photo Essay: The Space Shuttle in its New Homes

Space Shuttle Discovery on display in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.  Photo by Dane A. Penland, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York City announced the opening of Intrepid’s Space Shuttle Pavilion. Within the Pavilion, space shuttle Enterprise sits just 10 feet off the ground, allowing visitors to walk directly underneath this historic artifact, while an elevated viewing platform allows guests to gain even greater perspective. The exhibit has been engineered to express the shuttle program’s stories of human triumph and technological feats. Photo courtesy Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

Used by the Space Shuttle crews for decades to train for every single mission, the NASA FFT (Full Fuselage Trainer) is now installed in its new home at The Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA. The FFT exhibit opens Nov. 10.  Photo courtesy Museum of Flight.

Space shuttle Endeavor circles its new home, the California Science Center, on Sept. 21.  The shuttle is currently being stored in a United Airlines hanger at Los Angeles International Airport.  On October 12-13, the shuttle will be pulled through the streets of Los Angeles County from the airport to the Science Center by a Toyota Tundra pickup.  It will be on display in a temporary pavilion until the museum’s new air and space wing is ready, for which Endeavor will be the centerpiece.  Photo courtesy California Science Center.

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex held a Toppy Off Ceremony for the pavilion that will be the new home of space shuttle Atlantis, with Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana participating.  The topping off ceremony is a tradition in the construction community. An evergreen tree is placed at the top of a building upon completion of the overall structure. The tree hoisted atop a beam, symbolizes growth and luck.  The Atlantis pavilion will open in 2013.  Photo courtesy Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.