Air Force Museum Joins Ongoing Battle To Nab A Space Shuttle

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Mar 7th 2011 at 10:02PM

Last summer we learned that the Museum of Space Flight is angling to get one of the three space shuttles that will be available to museums around the U.S. but another contender is the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

NASA hasn't determined which museums across the U.S. will receive one of the three shuttles - the Enterprise, Endeavor or Atlantis. The Discovery is going to the Smithsonian which will in turn release the Enterprise, the shuttle prototype, to another museum. Any shuttle-ready space has to be completed this year in order to be considered. NPR reports that The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is hoping to tempt NASA with the fact that the museum has free admission, free parking and its location means that much of the American population can reach it with a day's drive. The museum is actually part of the Air Force and is on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The original Wright Brothers' flying field is nearby making this area a must-visit for flight lovers.

The Air Force wants a shuttle orbiter as part of an exhibit that will highlight the partnership between the Air Force and NASA. The shuttle would have plenty of company, the museum has over 300 exhibits including an Apollo space capsule. The museum is raising money for a new space gallery which could include a shuttle. It already has a Missile and Space Gallery which opened in 2004. The silo-like structure display missiles including the Titan I and II and Jupiter vertically so that they can be observed from the ground level or from an elevated platform. The gallery also showcases the Apollo 15 Command Module, Mercury and Gemini capsules, rocket engines, satellites and balloon gondolas.

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