NASA to give away historic space artifacts

Friday, November 27, 2009

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When the shuttle program is retired, obsolete items will be given away.

(Bay News 9) -- Since the space shuttle program is set to retire at the end of next year, NASA is giving museums and schools an opportunity to get ahold of historic artifacts.

Shuttle missions have been part of American life for decades, but NASA has decided to switch to a new launch system.

Since the transition will render many of the current parts and training gear obsolete, much of it will be given away for display.

There is a screening process available online, with a link to agencies for each state that helps people and organizations find out if they can qualify for the program, and see what's available.

More information

On the federal site, there is also a slide show of items that may be given away including space suit gloves, shuttle motion simulators, and even a crew compartment trainer.

Once an institution puts in a request for an item to be donated, it must work with NASA on the costs for disassembly and packing -- which could be expensive.