[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Santa Rosa Beach, FL[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif] – The area of the Florida gulf coast panhandle known as the Beaches of South Walton has set its sights set on one of NASA's space shuttles with hopes of snagging one of the iconic space planes for permanent display. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Elected officials are now throwing their weight behind space-minded citizens and the Beaches Of South Walton TDC to reserve one of NASA's three aging [/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]space shuttles[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif] once they are retired from spaceflight later this year. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]"I can think of no better place to showcase the space program and America's innovation to the world than SoWal Beaches," said Walton County Commissioner Sara Commander. "As America's most beautiful beach, we would be the perfect venue to display this iconic spacecraft."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]"Locating a shuttle at the TDC has been called a 'no-brainer' – and we couldn't agree more," said TDC Director Sonny Mares in a statement. "With millions of American and foreign tourists visiting SoWal every year, putting a shuttle at South Walton High School, the courthouse, or the TDC welcome center would create an ideal platform to share our national pride in our space program with the entire world, pay tribute to the men and women who have played a role in our greatest technological achievement, and provide an opportunity to educate future generations on the exploration of space."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Basing a shuttle at the Welcome Center would generate up to $7 million each year in direct spending for SoWal Beaches, as well as a total of $10 million per year in new economic activity, TDC officials said. It would allow more than 5 million residents and tourists a year to see the American spacecraft, they added.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Local citizens and business owners are all for the plan. Local restaurant owner David Rauschkolb, who recently spearheaded a state-wide effort to ban oil drilling off the Florida coast agreed. “Since NASA mostly uses liquid oxygen and other natural materials for fuel instead of oil and hydrocarbons that is a plus, and I think it would be kind of cool”, Rauschkolb said.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Local students at Butler Elementary School are starting a letter writing campaign to try and persuade NASA officials to send the shuttle their way. “If we had our own shuttle then my cousin in Atlanta would be able to see it when he comes to the beach, and he would be way jealous”, said Matt Jones, age 10.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Reports suggest Southwest Airlines and panhandle partner, The St. Joe Company, have agreed to match TDC and local fund-raising efforts up to $2 million. [/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]Representatives from neither company returned phone calls inquiring about the plan.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]NASA will be seeking the "discounted sum" of $47 million for just one of its fleet of shuttles. Then there's the estimated $4 million cost of disassembling, moving, and re-assembling of a shuttle.
[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]NASA has three space shuttles – Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour – with the Discovery orbiter slated to blast off from Florida on April 5 to deliver supplies, science experiments and spare parts to the International Space Station. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]The space agency plans to retire its three-orbiter fleet at the end of September after four final shuttle flights to complete construction of the $100 billion space station. The station, a product of 16 different countries, has been under assembly since 1998.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Once those final flights are complete, the space shuttles will be up for grabs for interested cities in the United States [[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]space shuttle photos[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]]. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Discovery, the oldest of NASA's shuttles, has been promised to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which leaves the two youngest available for other institutions.
Discovery will replace the test [/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]shuttle Enterprise[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif], which has been on exhibit in the Smithsonian's Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex in Chantilly, Va., since 2003.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]NASA is expected to announce the final retirement home for Atlantis and Endeavour no earlier than July 2010. There are more than 20 institutions vying to secure those shuttles, TDC officials said. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Elected officials are now throwing their weight behind space-minded citizens and the Beaches Of South Walton TDC to reserve one of NASA's three aging [/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]space shuttles[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif] once they are retired from spaceflight later this year. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]"I can think of no better place to showcase the space program and America's innovation to the world than SoWal Beaches," said Walton County Commissioner Sara Commander. "As America's most beautiful beach, we would be the perfect venue to display this iconic spacecraft."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]"Locating a shuttle at the TDC has been called a 'no-brainer' – and we couldn't agree more," said TDC Director Sonny Mares in a statement. "With millions of American and foreign tourists visiting SoWal every year, putting a shuttle at South Walton High School, the courthouse, or the TDC welcome center would create an ideal platform to share our national pride in our space program with the entire world, pay tribute to the men and women who have played a role in our greatest technological achievement, and provide an opportunity to educate future generations on the exploration of space."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Basing a shuttle at the Welcome Center would generate up to $7 million each year in direct spending for SoWal Beaches, as well as a total of $10 million per year in new economic activity, TDC officials said. It would allow more than 5 million residents and tourists a year to see the American spacecraft, they added.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Local citizens and business owners are all for the plan. Local restaurant owner David Rauschkolb, who recently spearheaded a state-wide effort to ban oil drilling off the Florida coast agreed. “Since NASA mostly uses liquid oxygen and other natural materials for fuel instead of oil and hydrocarbons that is a plus, and I think it would be kind of cool”, Rauschkolb said.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Local students at Butler Elementary School are starting a letter writing campaign to try and persuade NASA officials to send the shuttle their way. “If we had our own shuttle then my cousin in Atlanta would be able to see it when he comes to the beach, and he would be way jealous”, said Matt Jones, age 10.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Reports suggest Southwest Airlines and panhandle partner, The St. Joe Company, have agreed to match TDC and local fund-raising efforts up to $2 million. [/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]Representatives from neither company returned phone calls inquiring about the plan.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]NASA will be seeking the "discounted sum" of $47 million for just one of its fleet of shuttles. Then there's the estimated $4 million cost of disassembling, moving, and re-assembling of a shuttle.
[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]NASA has three space shuttles – Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour – with the Discovery orbiter slated to blast off from Florida on April 5 to deliver supplies, science experiments and spare parts to the International Space Station. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]The space agency plans to retire its three-orbiter fleet at the end of September after four final shuttle flights to complete construction of the $100 billion space station. The station, a product of 16 different countries, has been under assembly since 1998.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Once those final flights are complete, the space shuttles will be up for grabs for interested cities in the United States [[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]space shuttle photos[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]]. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Discovery, the oldest of NASA's shuttles, has been promised to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which leaves the two youngest available for other institutions.
Discovery will replace the test [/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]shuttle Enterprise[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif], which has been on exhibit in the Smithsonian's Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex in Chantilly, Va., since 2003.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]NASA is expected to announce the final retirement home for Atlantis and Endeavour no earlier than July 2010. There are more than 20 institutions vying to secure those shuttles, TDC officials said. [/FONT]
