“NASA has slashed the price of its fleet of space shuttles, hoping to spur more demand for the iconic ships, which are set to be sold this fall when they are formally mothballed in favor of newer spacecraft. The agency had originally hoped to fetch $42 million apiece for the 30-year-old ships, but after receiving only paltry expressions of interest, it has reduced the price to $28.8 million. What’s more, NASA will throw in a used shuttle engine — for free.”
WATCHDOG: Here is another chance for Rick Gray to outdo Charlie Smithgall. Charlie wanted to put a carousal in Binn’s Park; Rick could install a space shuttle! It probably wouldn’t cost more than the proposed streetcar system, the streets wouldn’t be cluttered, and the City would not have to subsidize hundreds of thousands of dollars of losses each year.
Museums don’t have that kind of money. NASA will end up giving them away.
Supposedly, the Smithsonian has already been promised one, to replace the Enterprise which never flew in space.