When NASA announced that two decommissioned space shuttles would be up for grabs, the Adler Planetarium quickly issued a statement formally expressing an interest in acquiring one of the Space Shuttle Orbiters for public display. When I heard that on the news, I was excited. I started doing some research; I learned the rest of the story--now I am not so excited.
There are 21 organizations that have expressed interest in obtaining one of the two decommissioned shuttles that are left for placement after the Smithsonian gets one. There will be an extensive lobbying process (think 2016 Olympics). If the Adler is chosen, there are some costs involved:
(1) The retired shuttles are being offered to institutions that can raise an estimated $28.8 million to ship and reassemble them after their decommissioning.
(2) The Adler will need to build a facility to house the shuttle and would need to raise $100 million! (Think Olympics again!)
The shuttles will cost a lot of money because they have to be transitioned for retirement. CollectSpace.com reported that Stephanie Stilson, flow manager for orbiter retirement said about the Shuttle Discovery, "We are going right into what we are calling our 'transition retirement' processing flow, which in many ways is very similar to the processing flow to get the vehicle ready for flight again. It is just this time, we are not preparing her for flight, we are preparing her for display.”
NASA will have to:
(1) Get the cryogenic [propellants] out of the fuel cell system, there are some [hypergolic fuels] we need to drain, those types of things. Pyrotechnic cartridges need to be removed.
(2) Hazardous commodities have to be removed.
(3) The systems to be stripped include ammonia, nitrogen tetroxide and monomethylhydrazine, all of which could pose a risk to future museum visitors if left intact.
(4) Decontaminate all the lines or just remove them.
If a shuttle comes to the Adler, it will have to be flown to Gary Airport on the back of a special Boeing 747 and then be transported by barge along Lake Michigan.
If someone is really interested in the shuttle, they can buy a very nice kit at Amazon.com for $30.56. No charge for shipping! The model needs to be assembled and measures more than 14 inches tall. The kit includes a display stand, cargo bay doors that open and close, detailed NASA decals, both liquid fuel and solid fuel rockets and illustrated assembly instructions. Sounds fun!
The population of Chicago is about 3 million, so if everyone bought a kit the total expense, with tax, would be about $100 million. Same amount of money and the shuttle would be located in your own home! No cost for parking at the museum campus.
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