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Discovery lands safely, museums shoot for the stars

Steven Nelson Associate Editor
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The final mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery concluded Wednesday when the shuttle landed safely on earth, returning from the International Space Station.

Only two additional space shuttle missions remain before the entire program is retired.

Museums are currently vying to house retired space shuttles. The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum currently exhibits the Space Shuttle Enterprise at its Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia.

The Space Shuttle Discovery is expected to go to the Smithsonian, permitting the Enterprise, which never went into space, to go to another museum.

Three prominent contenders for the Space Shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis include the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City, and the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

The Intrepid museum has launched a petition campaign to attract a shuttle. The museum states on its website that it “has applied to NASA for consideration to bring the shuttle to New York City’s west side.”

“The shuttle would be prominently displayed alongside of The USS Intrepid and the Growler Submarine at Manhattan’s Pier 86,” says the Intrepid museum.

The Museum of Flight is also actively campaigning for a shuttle. It is currently constructing a facility to house a shuttle. The museum’s pitch makes the case for Seattle, “from the pioneers who settled the West, to the technology visionaries at Boeing and Microsoft, our area has a natural curiosity to explore and discover.”

This article has been updated. Laura Donovan contributed to this report.