Update at 1:26 p.m. ET: NASA chief Charles Bolden announced today that the retiring four space shuttles will go on permanent display in Washington, New York City, Los Angeles and Florida.

More than 20 museums, educational institutions and planetariumswere vying for one of the coveted space vehicles.

Bolden, his voice frequently breaking with emotion, made the announcement on the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle flight.

The selections: The Discovery to the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum; the Atlantis, which makes the final shuttle mission in June, to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida; the Enterprise to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City; and the Endeavour, which makes its final flight later this month, to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

The selection of the space center to receive one of the shuttles brought a standing ovation from the NASA employees who gathered at the ceremony.

Update at 1:14 p.m. ET: The California Science Center in Los Angeles will get the Endeavour, which makes its final flight later this month, CNN reports.

Update at 1:11. p.m. ET: The Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum in New York City will get the shuttle Enterprise, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced today, The Associated Press reports.

Earlier posting: The National Air and Space Museum and the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex are likely to get two of the four coveted shuttle vehicles when NASA announces today where they will go on permanent display, Florida Today reports.

More than 20 museums, planetariums, and other educational institutions are vying for one of the decommissioned space orbiters, Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavour and Enterprise.

NASA chief Charles Bolden will announce the selections at 1 p.m. ET today on the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle flight.

Watch the announcement live here.

The newspaper, quoting unidentified NASA sources, says Atlantis is expected to go to the popular KSC Visitors Complex and Discovery will wind up at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum facility in Chantilly, Va., just outside Washington.

Other leading contenders include the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City; Johnson Space Center in Houston; the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio; and the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

The final shuttle mission for Endeavour is scheduled for April 29 under the command of astronaut Capt. Mark Kelly.

Florida Today talked to medical experts who say that Kelly's wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, could be far enough along in her recovery from gunshot wounds sustained in Arizona to view the launch.