Fwd: 30 astronauts gather for VIP event at Atlantis exhibit

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: June 29, 2013 9:28:13 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: 30 astronauts gather for VIP event at Atlantis exhibit

 

 

 

Atlantis opens its doors to visitors

Beginning today, unique attraction available to public

Jun. 28, 2013 11:51 PM   |  

 

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Crews set up for the opening of the space shuttle Atlantis exhibit at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. / CRAIG RUBADOUX/florida today

Written by
Todd Halvorson
FLORIDA TODAY

CAPE CANAVERAL — It's a double-barreled bid for both terrestrial and space tourism.

At the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the $100 million Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction will open today, creating a dramatic new lure for tourists.

NASA's Shuttle Landing Facility is just a few miles to the north. Seventy-eight tire-smoking shuttle touchdowns took place on the three-mile runway there. Now the state and NASA are in serious talks about converting the "SLF" into a commercial spaceport. A California company developing a rocketplane for space tourist flights aims to be an anchor tenant.

For XCOR Aerospace, the Space Coast beckons.

"Imagine 30-some million visitors coming to Central Florida, the home of human spaceflight," said Andrew Nelson, chief operating officer of XCOR, now based in Mojave, Calif.

Nelson said a few million of those tourists probably want to fly into space. And on the Space Coast, there is a uniquely skilled local work force that could position the company to prosper.

"The employee base is so good here. They know how to do things the right way," he said.

A highly skilled work force also was required to raise the new Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction, a 90,000-square-foot facility that visitor complex officials hope will challenge the new "Transformers: the 3-D Ride" at Universal Orlando and draw more visitors from Walt Disney World and the region's other theme parks.

There is just something unparalleled about the opportunity to get nose-to-nose with a winged spaceship that has flown 33 times, spent 307 days in space and tallied 126 million miles on its odometer.

"It's the only one of its kind in the world," said Bill Moore, Chief Operating Officer with Delaware North Companies Parks and Resorts, which manages the KSC Visitor Complex under a NASA contract.

The vehicle is displayed at a 43.21-degree angle, its payload bay doors are open, its Canadian-built robotic arm is deployed, and it looks just as if it were flying in space.

"It's a jaw-dropper," said Bob Socks, 69, of West Cocoa, a Brevard resident for almost a half-century. "This is a very, very incredible display."

Tourists can come within an arm's reach of the spaceship.

Unveiled at the attraction in a dramatic "reveal," the winged spaceship Atlantis is astonishing, majestic, and overwhelming.

 

"Wow, huh? Wow!" said NASA KSC Director Bob Cabana, a former astronaut who flew four missions. "It's truly awe-inspiring."

 

It would be a spoiler to say more. But for anyone who was ever involved in NASA's 30-year-long shuttle program, it's an emotional experience — especially the theatrical curtain rise.

 

Said Cabana, "I have to be honest. It brought a tear to my eye."

 

Later Friday, more than 30 astronauts gathered at the Visitor Complex as part of a VIP dinner event to unveil Atlantis' new home.

 

The Atlantis attraction is expected to boost attendance at the KSC Visitor Complex, and it represents a stream of new revenue for the Space Coast and Florida's tourism industry.

 

Meanwhile, NASA and Space Florida, the state's aerospace economic development agency, are in talks that could convert the Shuttle Landing Facility into a commercial spaceport.

 

XCOR Aerospace intends to begin "pathfinder" and space tourist flights there with its two-seat, suborbital Lynx rocketplane in 2015.

 

Twenty to 30 people would make up an initial work force that could climb to 150 depending on the sale of $95,000 flights for tourists, scientists and research payloads.

 

Nelson said 300 tickets already have been sold. The company wants to operate on the Space Coast because human space flight is in its DNA.

 

"It is the history," Nelson said. "If you want to do it, you have to do it from here."

 

Are you going to see the new Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex?

 

Share your photographs on social media. We'll be pulling many into our Atlantis page: florida today.com/Atlantis.

 

Contact Halvorson at 
thalvorson@floridatoday.com

 

Copyright © 2013 www.floridatoday.com. All rights reserved. 

 

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30 astronauts gather for VIP event at Atlantis exhibit

Jun. 28, 2013   |  

 

NASA officials welcome opening of Atlantis exhibit: NASA Diretor Robert Cabana talks about the Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Friday afternoon. The exhibit opens to the public June 29. Video by Breuse Hickman. Posted June 28, 2013.

Written by
Stacey Barchenger
FLORIDA TODAY

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NASA Diretor of the Kennedy Space Center Robert Cabana talks about the Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Friday afternoon. / CRAIG RUBADOUX/FLORIDA TODAY

They gathered to dine under their spaceship.

More than 30 astronauts gathered at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex tonight as part of a VIP dinner event sponsored by Delaware North Companies, unveiling Space Shuttle Atlantis in her new home.

As they saw the orbiter, on display as if in flight tilted 43.21 degrees to the port side, for the first time, many wiped tears from their eyes.

"It looks beautiful," said Frank L. Culbertson Jr, who flew on Atlantis and Discovery and lived at the International Space Station. "It looks like it did when it flew."

And though they agreed the shuttle had been done justice, there was a bittersweet tinge.

"It should still be flying," said Brewster Shaw, who flew on Atlantis in 1985 and two missions with Columbia.

The exclusive dinner event precedes the exhibit's public opening. The $100 million facility, which displays Atlantis and has 60 other exhibits, opens Saturday morning to the public.

 

Copyright © 2013 www.floridatoday.com. All rights reserved. 

 

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