| guiLT |
02-23-2013 06:01 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeyg36
(Post 8789)
I'm looking forward to it now! The pictures on the website look great. Do they have fake engines installed or does it have the tail cone? Also, which is your favorite shuttle?
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Discovery's engines are replicas. NASA took all the real main engines out of the orbiters when they sent them to their museums. Some are going to museums, others are staying with NASA for SLS, NASA's next manned space program.
Discovery does not have a tail cone because the Smithsonian wanted it to look like it just landed. However, Enterprise has her tail cone installed because the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum wanted her to look like she did when she performed the Approach and Landing tests in the 70's. She had her tail cone installed for most of these tests.
I love all the orbiters like they're my own, but Space Shuttle Atlantis will forever be close to my heart. With the exception of Space Shuttle Enterprise, Atlantis was the first Space Shuttle I ever saw. The last time I saw her, she was positioned on launch pad 39A in 2011 for STS-135, the Space Shuttle Program's final mission the very next day. I still remember the thundering boom her SRBs made when they separated for the final time after launch.
She will also be the first orbiter I see in her retirement home. I'm thinking about visiting her in July, a couple days after her exhibit opens. |
