The Top 3 Shuttle Destinations (with Suresh Atapattu 30th Anniversary Photo Gallery)

[bluejuice]

With all this bickering between NYC and Houston, Dont forget where the wings and rudder were built. Right here on Long Island in Grumman and Fairchild. Congrats to the Intrepid!!

[hiss srq]

With all this bickering between NYC and Houston, Dont forget where the wings and rudder were built. Right here on Long Island in Grumman and Fairchild. Congrats to the Intrepid!!

+1

Additionally, +whatever to the people who said it would make more sense in terms of visibility.

Additionally, while LA might have space infastructure from NASA I argue that they shouldnt have gotten it over Houston... Houston should have a shuttle but the fact of the matter is beyond having a tremendous amount of the shuttle built right here on Long Island... Without us Long Islanders the aerospace business would not have been what it has. Here on Long Island is where a much larger portion of the machines that have driven us to the here and now of the aerospace business came to frutition. So, while the key punchers might have been in Houston, the actual blood sweat and tears that made spaceflight what it is today where on this great island many of us call home. Piss and moan as the nay sayers may but JetBlue and United all cover IAH/HOU-JFK/LGA/EWR quite well. ;)

[Perriwen]

+1

the actual blood sweat and tears that made spaceflight what it is today where on this great island many of us call home. Piss and moan as the nay sayers may but JetBlue and United all cover IAH/HOU-JFK/LGA/EWR quite well. ;)

A SMALL PORTION of the blood, sweat, and tears.

What about New Orleans where all the external fuel tanks were built for the last thirty years?

What about the Rockwell facilities in California that actually assembled the whole shuttle?

What about the Stennis Space Center that painstakingly tested every shuttle engine for 30+ years?

What about all the other states that made parts of the shuttle?

One plant that made a segment of the orbiter, all six of them, hardly qualifies as THE place where all the blood, sweat, and tears were. To say that's where the real work happened is a discredit to everyone else involved. To be blunt, they had the easy part, making segments that were painstakingly designed elsewhere, and once the last two wings were finished, their part was done. Not saying it was worthless, but simply building a wing and rudder according to someone else's design pales in comparison to what many others contributed.

[jerslice]

Awww feeling a little left out are we?

Nope, we get something we can get into :-) The only thing I feel left out of is the SCA visit - but LA isn't that far away!

[moose135]

What were they smoking thinking NYC is more deserving of an orbiter than Houston?

I'll tell you the same thing I told someone (also from Texas) who was complaining about the choice - the shuttles are artifacts of the American space program, not the Houston space program. They belong to the American people, all of them, not just the handful who live in Houston. Millions more people will see the Enterprise in New York than if it was in Houston.

[Perriwen]

I'll tell you the same thing I told someone (also from Texas) who was complaining about the choice - the shuttles are artifacts of the American space program, not the Houston space program. They belong to the American people, all of them, not just the handful who live in Houston. Millions more people will see the Enterprise in New York than if it was in Houston.

Hate to break it to you, but the amount of visitors to each museum is roughly the same. So, there goes the 'millions more' argument...

http://www.ny.com/museums/intrepid.s...ce.museum.html

Since 1982, the Intrepid has become a national icon. More than 750,000 people visit each year.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7518917.html

The Space Center Houston is a museum adjacent to Johnson Space Center that attracts 750,000 visitors a year.

So, 'millions more' is closer to ' maybe one or two thousand more'

[eric8669]

Hate to break it to you, but the amount of visitors to each museum is roughly the same. So, there goes the 'millions more' argument...

http://www.ny.com/museums/intrepid.s...ce.museum.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7518917.html

So, 'millions more' is closer to ' maybe one or two thousand more'

well now visitors to the intrepid will increase. If Houston were to get it I don't see the visitor attendance increasing as much as it would in NY, hence "millions more" will see it.

[Perriwen]

well now visitors to the intrepid will increase. If Houston were to get it I don't see the visitor attendance increasing as much as it would in NY, hence "millions more" will see it.

Why wouldn't it increase in Houston? You're acting like Houston is just some city no one visits...it's a huge tourist hot spot with a resort island about ten minutes away from the space center, two major water parks, two flight museums, two world war 2 vessels now floating musuems, the San Jacinto battlefield, two national forests, four major league teams...we're not some little town out in the boonies, you know. Why would it increase for New York and not Houston?

[hiss srq]

Do you forget a little device called the LEM? Or perhaps the supersonic aircraft that formed the backbone of aerospace up to and beyond the point of space flight? That's right... They were built on Long Island...... Not in Texas... Without the LEM I hate to say it but we werent going to the moon and it was almost all Long Islanders who built that nifty little machine. And, with arguments valid that Houston isnt exactly Wachula, Florida New York will still be a much more visible point. Let me ask you this... When you go to Europe and Asia and see adds along the lines of "Travel To America" how many of them have you seen that say Houston? Probably not many. New York is a world culture center. Houston is certainly a sizeable world business center BUT New York is a culture/business center. People come to America with dreams of seeing New York as the sole purpose goal.. Many... I meet them every day in fact.... I don't meet many people who dream of going to Houston. By that virtue alone it makes the point. People are going to come to NYC and one of the first things they will see when they make it to the west side of the skyline is that big gleaming space shuttle. That sign of once mighty America and the power of it in the most powerful city on the planet.... Period...

[Perriwen]

By the same virtue, how many people do you see in NYC who, when you ask them, are enthused about going to an air and space museum? Probably not many...as you said, New York is a CULTURE center, people who want to go watch shows, look at art galleries, and so on, but would be put to sleep when it comes to things like space flight. Just look at the numbers, the museums draw in about the same amount of people. On the other hand, when people come to Houston, space flight IS one of the major draws. Seeing mission control, seeing the places where the astronauts train, MEETING some of them men and women who fly into space, seeing the rocket gardens with examples of everything the US has flown into space (minus a space shuttle orbiter). So, which would be the bigger draw? People who come with the intent on seeing and exploring manned space flight in it's very home, or people just taking a little deviation from culture?

[fk6065]

two national forests

There are forests in Texas?

[Derf]

Sorry, but most of us New Yorkers mean no disrespect to the Great State of Texas. We did not make the decision and can understand why your upset. We feel that it will make more impact at the Intrepid that in Houston. The one thing that I can say is that every Man and Woman who knows someone that works or worked for NASA holds their head a little higher than most others. It is all about being a small part of something that kids dreams are made of, something that is larger than life itself. This distribution of these few artifacts of the American space program would have created some grumbling of some sort no matter what the result. I am sorry that you guys are not getting a Shuttle but feel we would be crazy not to ask for one. I personally feel that the Shuttle at the Intrepid will cause a HUGE influx of visitors from the largest School District in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,600 separate schools alone... Every one of theses students are within 1 hour day trip of visiting our history. With a U.S. Aircraft Carrier, Submarine, British Built Concorde and some very unique aircraft, this latest edition is allowing the Intrepid to add to a recently started Space exhibit. Yes, There has been an incredible support system in Texas for our Space program, it surely was not as important as Operations in Florida and lacks the research achieved in California, NASA was not going to get most of them with notification of distribution to Museums. What was important was that where ever they went that it would have to make the most impact. I feel the decision was a no brainier for NY as it will reach the eyes of more school children then anywhere else in the U.S. and with more visitors visiting the NYC area, this will allow more viewing than in Houston. I know people on many Photography forums and when they come to the U.S. they visit NY more than any other place... Second is CA and never had seen one post about going to Texas. When your in the U.S. The Big destinations are N.Y., Florida, CA with many others but those are the main places that people want to visit if they do not have family and are going "out of their element" If I lived in Texas I too would be upset being all that Houston has done.

It is been a while since I have been to the "Great State of Texas" but I hope to return next year...

[Perriwen]

There are forests in Texas?

Texas has just about everything geography and nature has to offer sans a volcano. Islands, beaches, deserts, mountains, plains, canyons, rivers, bayous, ocean, lakes, forests....

[fk6065]

Really never knew Texas had forests, interesting I always thought it was more flat open land. Interesting, in all the pictures I have ever seen from or of Texas I've never seen one with a forest. Guess you learn something everyday.

[Derf]

It is really like a country....The best part is when you Texas Size a Long Island Iced Tea.... They bring out what looks like a 1 gallon fish bowl for like $5!!!! I have the a great amount of respect for the Great State of Texas.