This Order Form - Smithsonian Affiliations: Fill & Download for Free

The process started with Congress in H.R. 6063 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008. That law laid out everything Congress wanted NASA to do that year. Section 613 - Space Shuttle Transition, included the following instruction:“Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a plan describing the process for the disposition of the remaining Space Shuttle Orbiters and other Space Shuttle program-related hardware after the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet.The plan shall include a description of a process by which educational institutions, science museums, and other appropriate organizations may acquire, through loan or disposal by the Federal Government, Space Shuttle program hardware.”NASA responded that one Orbiter would go to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum and that NASA would put out an RFI (Request For Information) to gauge interest and feasibility for other facilities/organizations to receive the other Orbiters and/or Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME). That RFI included the following questions:1. Would your organization be interested in acquiring an Orbiter and/or SSME? For what purpose and at what location?2. Please explain your organization’s approach to raising funding necessary for Orbiter safing and final display preparation, SSME assembly and final display preparation, and transportation services. a. What would be the proposed source(s) of funding? b. What is the estimated amount of time needed to raise sufficient funds to display an Orbiter and/or SSME?3. The Space Shuttle Orbiters and SSMEs may not be displayed outdoors, and will require suitable climate-controlled indoor display space. Please provide your organization’s capabilities to appropriately house, protect, display, and curate a Space Shuttle Orbiter and/or SSME.4. Given these financial and curatorial requirements stated in this RFI, what is the earliest date your organization could accept the transfer of an Orbiter and/or SSME?5. What is the benefit to the Nation of displaying a Space Shuttle Orbiter and/or SSME at your facility? In your response, please identify: a. How you would use these assets to inspire the American public and students in particular; b. Other specific educational or education outreach opportunities; and c. How you would you assess, evaluate, and measure these objectives.6. Provide the techniques and interpretive strategies that you would use to enhance the display of these artifacts and increase the public’s ability to understand the Nation’s space exploration agenda.7. What additional assets, tools, or expertise would your organization request from NASA in order to display these assets to the American public? Topics which organizations should also include the following in an Appendix in as much detail as reasonably possible: Mission Statement, Organizational Chart, Nature of Governing Authority, Accreditation or other relevant credential, Collection Ownership and Management Policy, Attendance Figures for each of the past 5 years, Population of geographic area in which organization is located, Local infrastructure for transporting a Space Shuttle Orbiter, once offloaded from the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, to the final display location, Budget and Resources profile including endowments over the past 5 years, Number of Web Page Hits for each of the past 5 years.NASA’s goals were to (1) place the Orbiters where they would be preserved for history and seen by the greatest number of visitors and (2) save taxpayer dollars by awarding the Orbiters to institutions that were willing to reimburse the Agency for the cost of transporting them to their new homes.NASA put together a Recommendation Team headed by the Office of Strategic Infrastructure and including representatives from several NASA offices and directorates. Of the 29 institutions that submitted answers to the RFI, the Recommendation Team determined 13 met the eligibility requirements. For those 13, the team ranked them using a point system for the following criteria:Commitment to Funding (Yes = 15 points; No = 0 points)Funding Risk (Have Funds = 10 points; Must Finance/Fundraise = 5 points)Facility Availability (Existing or Under Construction = 10 points; Can Build to Meet Deadline = 5 points)Transportation Effort/Risk (Low = 10 points; Moderate = 5 points; High = 0 points)Meet Delivery Schedule (Yes = 10 points; No = 0 points)Attendance (Over 800,000 = 15 points; 300,000 to 800,000 = 10 points; 50,000 to 300,000 = 5 points; Less than 50,000 = 0 points)Regional Population (Over 12 million = 10 points; 1 million to 12 million = 5 points; Less than 1 million = 0 points)International Access (Over 2 million = 15 points; 1 million to 2 million = 10 points; Less than 1 million = 5 points)Museum Certification (American Association of Museums or Smithsonian Affiliate) (Yes = 10 points; No = 0 points)The three highest scoring institutions were Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, and the California Science Center. The Orbiters ended up going to:Enterprise: Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (New York)Discovery: Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum (Virginia)Atlantis: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (Florida)Endeavour: California Science Center (California)

Here’s your “site”-seeing list from downtown Kansas City to downtown Denver, listed in order along I-70, (excluding the big cities like Lawrence and Topeka):The Land of OZHalfway between Topeka and Manhattan, go north to Wamego, where the Oz Museum resides. If you haven’t had enough of Dorothy references growing up in Kansas, then be sure to stop here!CosmosphereIf you’re into everything about space travel and rockets and are willing to detour an hour south from Salina, you’ll arrive at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS. In this small, unassuming town, is the one of the first-ever IMAX dome theaters, and one of the first museum affiliates of the Smithsonian Institution. Of note, some of the cool stuff there:A 109ft Titan rocket that is a flight-ready back up (AKA NASA could just waltz in there, attach it, and it’d be ready to go)SputnikWWII rockets and bombsThe Gemini X spacecraftOdysessy, the Apollo 13 command moduleSpace flight simulatorsGiant Ball of TwineHead north of Salina for an hour to get the mother of all Instagram photos: 1,510.31 miles worth of twin wrapped into a 19,198 pound twine ball.Christmas City of the High PlainsDo you remember that scene in How the Grinch Stole Christmas with everyone in town gathering around to light up the tree on the main square? That’s what WaKeeny is. Definitely worth the stop right off of I-70 in the winter months.Monument Rocks National Landmark/Chalk PyramidsRight before you hit Colby and the edge of the state, you’ll detour south for 30 minutes to catch is often overlooked, amazing site. The 70ft tall chalk formations were created 80 million years ago when this section of the US was a part of the Western Interior Seaway.The Most Popular Mile MarkerBe sure to make a quick photo stop near Stratton, CO to find the famous almost 420 mile marker.And by now, you’re almost to the greater Denver area limits! Just relax and enjoy the mountain views.

The Wrights worked hard, behind the scenes, to give themselves credit so they could control world aviation and profit from all of it. They rigged some testimony and documentation that was admitted to and accepted in court so they’d be considered “first”, in order to be considered “pioneer inventors” of flight, and thus expanding their patent rights. This worked for a time, thus hampering the development of aviation in America until WWI broke out.There is a little-known contract with Smithsonian, arranged by Orville Wright’s friends, inner circle, and executors, that requires Smithsonian and its affiliates to recognize Orville (not Wilbur) and the Wright Flyer as “first in flight”. This is how Smithsonian obtained the Wright Flyer for $1 after Orville died in 1948. If they recognize anyone else (or if their affiliates do) they lose the Flyer which would revert to the family (heirs) and the institution could potentially buy it back.I have written a book about this, Gustave Whitehead: First in Flight.