Will we get a Shuttle?

I sure hope so.

One to the NASM, one to KSC and one to JSC.
=> we might be getting Enterprise from the Udvar Hazy in DC

Keeping me fingers crossed. And toes.

 

From what I heard this was solely a NASA decision. No politicos.

 

Total garbage.

If it were political, Obama would have given his home town a Shuttle as it generates tourist revenues.

Fact is that NASA made the decision in countless meetings with countless people attending.

JSC was snubbed for a couple of reasons: They never had anything to do with the flight hardware (KSC launched them, NASM collects them, Calif builds them). Furthermore their museum is very modest (I'd rate it about 5th or 6th within the USA) and is not a tourist attraction (unlike the Intrepid in NY).

I'm just bummed we didn't get to see the Shuttle arrive on a barge. Like that plane that ended up in the S&I museum where I had a chance to watch it land at Meigs.

 

That is actually very true. For better or worse.

There is an interesting thread on NASAwatch.com about why JSC didn't get a shuttle. And pretty much all the space geeks agree that TX and Houston and JSC never cared enough about the Shuttle program to begin with. In fact their bid for a Shuttle was last minute. And the lack of enthusiasm is evident when you go to Houston. Very different from going to Merrit Island/Coco beach where everybody has space fever.

 

Thanks Chelle for the link.

The short answer is no.

The longer one is that my house is already filled with space (and Ferrari) collectables and I really shouldn't add anymore. I've been collecting manned spaceflight artifacts for years (if not decades) now. The preferred items are flight hardware, particularly if it was flown on a mission in space. Those things weren't much of a big deal in the nineties and people could pick them up for not much $. Now most of them are gone and what's left makes a killing in price. I see this auction too has some good stuff (the magic word is "flown") but expect those items to be in the hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

I think there will be more things coming out of the woodwork once the last Shuttle has come back and people in JSC and KSC are leaving their jobs and houses, clearing out their basements. Also (sadly) as times moves on we will soon see a lot of the astronaut heroes of the sixties (Mercury/Gemini/Apollo) pass away and their heirs will sell off those collections (as also seen in this auction where the collections of Cooper and Carpenter are being sold, although Carpenter is still alive). That's when a currently somewhat dried up supply will come to the market again.

PS: There is also of course ebay (provenance being an issue there) and European space auctions. But my comments above pertain to those markets as well.