-- Atlantis: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Orlando, Florida.
-- Discovery: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
Endeavor: California Science Center in Los Angeles, California.
-- Enterprise: Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.
Of course, many locations that put in a bid for an orbiter, from Chicago's Adler Planetarium to Ohio's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, came away disappointed. That said, there is some logic to the choices. The nation's capitol and Florida do not need too much thought, but even New York and California make sense. Los Angeles was the home of Rockwell International, the shuttle's primary contractor. And the Intrepid recovered space capsules for NASA many years ago. Of course, other bits and pieces of the shuttle program will be sent around the country, but the orbiters were what really counted. I only hope we do not see our space program as something we put behind glass while we reminisce about the "good old days." Instead, they should be seen as building blocks as we spend our time dreaming about future adventures.
