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Air Force Museum should get space shuttle, Ohio congressmen say

Why does the museum want a shuttle orbiter?

Land that space shuttle ... right ... here

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The birthplace of aviation wants to be the space shuttle's retirement home.

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton is campaigning to add one of three soon-to-be-mothballed NASA space shuttles to its collection of more than 400 aerospace vehicles and missiles.

Museum officials predict its arrival would draw an extra 1 million visitors annually to the facility, create 700 jobs and add $40 million to the state's economy. About 1.3 million people already visit the free museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base each year.

"Ohio's proud flight heritage, our proximity to a majority of the U.S. population and the aviation tradition of the National Museum of the United States Air Force provide all the essential elements for a dignified display educating the nation and the world on the tremendous accomplishments of the United States space program," Gov. Ted Strickland said in an April pitch to NASA administrator Charles Bolden.

Ohio Aerospace Institute President Mike Heil says the proposed shuttle display would highlight the close relationship between the Air Force and NASA as well as the frequent collaborations between Wright-Patterson researchers and NASA Glenn Research Center.

"Bringing a space shuttle to the Air Force museum in Dayton is not only good for the Dayton region but good for the state of Ohio and good for Cleveland," Heil said. "The Air Force museum is an internationally famous museum that draws people from around the state, around the country and around the world."

Every current member of Congress from Ohio, former astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn, and more than a dozen astronauts with Air Force and Ohio backgrounds have joined Strickland in lobbying NASA to secure one of the three shuttles. They say the shuttle Atlantis would be most appropriate because of its frequent use in Air Force research. The Atlantis returned from its final voyage Wednesday.

A letter that Air Force Secretary Michael Donley wrote to NASA touts the museum's current attributes -- including Titan I and Titan II, Jupiter and Peacekeeper missiles -- in arguing it should also get a space shuttle.

"Visitors can also see a Mercury and Gemini spacecraft, as well as the command module from the Apollo 14 mission," Donley's letter says. "Placing the space shuttle orbiter on display at the National Museum would give museum visitors an exciting look into this important part of our history."

NASA spokesman Michael Curie said more than 20 museums from around the country have asked to adopt a space shuttle after the program ends in November. NASA has already offered the Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. If Discovery goes there, an experimental shuttle called the Enterprise that's now in its collection would be sent to another institution. Endeavour is the remaining shuttle that is available. Two other shuttles -- Challenger and Columbia -- were destroyed during missions.

Space shuttles have been used for a wide variety of chores, from performing scientific experiments to deploying and repairing communications satellites, to helping to assemble the space station, Curie says. President George W. Bush announced the end of the program in 2004, after Columbia disintegrated upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere.

"The program has done an awful lot over the years to contribute to technological advancements and scientific discoveries," Curie said.

According to Curie, NASA is likely to announce its decision early this summer, to give institutions enough time to raise the money required to properly display and transport the shuttles.

"We are trying to find the best locations for the orbiters where the American taxpayers who have paid for them have the best opportunity to see them," Curie said.

NASA will pay to remove toxic substances from the shuttles before they go to museums, but Curie said each museum will have to spend an estimated $28.8 million to reassemble and relocate its shuttle after toxins are removed. A shuttle is about the size of a DC-9 aircraft, Curie says: 122 feet long, 78 feet wide, and 57 feet tall.

Dayton Development Coalition Vice President Michael Gessel said NASA's selection process has been "highly competitive," with facilities in New York, Texas, Florida, Washington and California making bids.

He said the Air Force Museum Foundation has started a major construction program that will add a 200,000-square-foot building to the museum's current 1 million square feet of exhibit space. So far, the foundation has collected $17 million to spend on the building. Addition of the space shuttle would jump-start fundraising, he predicted.

Gessel said locating an orbiter at the museum would allow its ownership to be retained by taxpayers and put it near the home of the Wright Brothers, within a southwest Ohio eight-county National Aviation Heritage area "recognized by Congress for its contributions to aviation and aerospace history and for the purpose of attracting tourists."

"It would be a significant boost to the prestige of [the Air Force museum] and make the museum an even more important stop for aviation enthusiasts," Gessel said.