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April 12, 2011 in Region
Seattle Museum of Flight won’t get a space shuttle
SEATTLE — NASA says Seattle’s Museum of Flight won’t get to display one of the retiring space shuttles.
The museum near Boeing Field was one of 21 museum and science centers around the country hoping to land one of the spaceships. A new building called the Space Gallery was being prepared for the display.
One space shuttle was already spoken for — the Smithsonian Institution is getting Discovery. It will take the place of Enterprise, the shuttle prototype used for tests in the late 1970s. The Enterprise will be going to Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York.
The shuttle Atlantis is going to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Endeavor is going to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
In a statement, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire said she’s disappointed NASA did not choose the Seattle museum.
“The Museum of Flight put a tremendous amount of effort into landing a retired shuttle in the Pacific Northwest,” Gregoire said. “As the home of modern day air travel and the 747, which has gracefully transported shuttles for the last 30 years, Seattle would have been a perfect fit.”
The Museum of Flight, however, will get a full fuselage trainer, which every astronaut is trained on. Visitors will be able to climb aboard the trainer and experience the hands-on training that astronauts get.
“It will help inspire young people to the adventure of space and to the excitement of a career in science, technology, engineering and math,” the governor said.
© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Four dead, two wounded in Seattle shootings 
spock1497 on April 12 at 11:20 a.m.
you got to be kidding after all the people of washington spent all these millions for nothing, who’s bright idea was this.they ought to be fired after all the economy is in bad enough shape and cutting all the jobs and expences to waist money on this project with no definate answer yes we get it just on a hunch .
fire this person who made this decision. people of washington cant afford wasted millions on hunches or gambling for things to happen , thats like me taking 10 dollars to the casins hoping on winning millions on a penny slot machine
meadman on April 12 at 11:37 a.m.
To Spock1497: While it is disappointing that there won’t be a shuttle in Seattle, your rant shows a lack of understanding of all the scientific benefits that the world has seen as a result of the work of NASA, the shuttle program, the ISS, and basic research programs. While it certainly seems like a lot of $$ has gone into the space program in general (in raw numbers), the fact is the NASA budget amounts to about 6/10ths of one percent of the entire US budget. In other words, for every $10 of the US budget, NASA spending accounts for only 6 cents!
I don’t believe the money has been “waisted” (using your spelling). Please do a bit more research on NASA and the various programs before demanding someone be fired. The general theme of your posting is anger, but it is difficult to comprehend what your point really is……
Shadedmuse on April 12 at 11:50 a.m.
If the challenger never blew up and the columbia never broke apart on re-entry then their would of been enough Space SHuttles to park next AF1 and the concord at Boeing field in South Seattle.
gmsalina on April 12 at 12:54 p.m.
Meadman, I guess you must have missed the point that Spock1497 was trying to get across. He wasn’t bemoaning the space program whatsoever, he was angry over the fact that Washington state has spent over $20,000,000 constructing a building in Seattle in the hopes of being granted the right to display one of the retired space shuttles. It does seem like quite a gamble to build such an expensive property without any assurance whatsoever that the museum would actually receive a space shuttle, which it did not. Our government is making drastic cuts to public health care, education and several other critical programs in order to close the budget gap and dropping $20 million on such a tentative project seems ludicrous and wrong.
meadman on April 12 at 2:07 p.m.
A quick Google search seems to suggest that the new “shuttle” building at the MOF was funding mostly by private donations — with only about $3 million coming from the state (taxpayers).
While I agree this is a lot of money, it does not support the claim (above) that “Washington state has spent over $20,000,000 constructing a building in Seattle”
meadman on April 12 at 2:13 p.m.
Furthermore, keep in mind that the MOF will be receiving the full-size shuttle training vehicle….even though it never flew in space, it is the only vehicle of its kind and it has been the training ground for all our shuttle astronauts. A good piece of NASA history to display in Seattle
gmsalina on April 12 at 3:19 p.m.
Perhaps you could provide the link proving that “ONLY” $3 million of taxpayer money is going toward this project, as my searches have shown nothing to this effect. It’s great that NASA is going to send the training shuttle to the MOF, but this was not the goal of the museum and is nowhere near as exciting or alluring as exhibiting an actual space shuttle. Its basically a nice consolation prize that will help keep that new building from sitting empty. Also, keep in mind that the MOF was competing with world-class museums such as the Smithsonian, the Kennedy Space Center and the California Science Center (among several others). The MOF is a great regional museum and I’ve enjoyed my visits there, but it is simply not in legitimate competition when compared to the prestigious sites that were vying for the honor of exhibiting such a historic piece of space history. This whole project was a long shot at best and dropping ANY taxpayer money on it while our state government is kicking severely disabled people off of state medical programs is nearly criminal. That $3,000,000 could singlehandedly save Spokane’s Museum of Arts and Culture from closing, which is a very real possibility, but it instead gets spent on constructing a building that was specifically designed to house an item it will never receive.
james_l on April 12 at 5:11 p.m.
gmsalina: here is a link to the fact sheet that outlines the project, including financing ($9M private + $3M state) : http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2011/04/12/2014751686.pdf.
greenlibertarian on April 12 at 7:45 p.m.
I’m always astounded when people just make numbers up to support their argument, when, in this day and age, such numbers are EASILY findable and verifiable.
Stunning ignorance.