CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla — It was a hard but necessary thing to watch; two space shuttles, once proud, now stripped bare of the elements that allowed them to take flight on display for the world to see. NASA allowed media to attend the event that, while admittedly necessary to get the orbiters where they will eventually end up, was still hard to see. The orbiters Discovery and Endeavour were slated to move on Wednesday, Aug 10, but bad weather forced the move to the following day at approximately 8:30 a.m. EDT.
Without their Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs), Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods, or the nose-mounted Reaction Control System (RCS) the orbiters looked forlorn and laid bare. The two orbiters were set to switch locations between Orbiter Processing Facility - 01 and the Vehicle Assembly Building where shuttle Discovery has been held.
The two were brought out on display, with some of the remaining shuttle workers on hand with flags and a quilt to mark the occasion. The skies above were grey and overcast adding a pall to the affair. Still, most in attendance acknowledged that getting the orbiters prepared for retirement was necessary to move on to the next phase.
Upon completion of her decommissioning, Endeavour will be sent to California to the California Science Center located near Los Angeles. Discovery will replace the shuttle test article Enterprise that is currently at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia (Enterprise will then be flown to New York where it will go on display at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum). Atlantis will stay put, she will be moved over to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
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