Space Shuttles For Sale

If you have $42 million USD to spare, NASA is looking for you. Last Wedneday, the US Space Agency announced that it was looking for buyers for two of its three remaining space shuttles - Atlantis and Endeavour, when they are retired around 2010.

The third Shuttle, Discovery is expected to be displayed at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

However, before you rush to make the offer, bear in mind that the hefty price does not include any of the engines, which will be sold separately for between $400,000 - $800,000 each - and that does not include shipping and handling!

NASA says that the entire sale price will be used to re-furbish the Shuttles, with about $28 million going toward the detoxification, another $8 million to get it ready for display and $6 million towards shipping and handling. In fact, they caution buyers that the shipping amount may increase depending on the location of the final destination, especially if it involves a lot of street travel.

That's because the shuttle has a 78-foot wingspan (about the width of 11 Hummers), which requires the removal of all traffic lights and sign posts on the streets.

NASA is hoping that there will be some educational or science museum that will be interested and be able to afford the hefty price tag.

The shuttle program began in 1981 with five shuttles. Two of them, Challenger and Columbia were destroyed in accidents in 1986 and 2003 respectively. The program with the remaining three is expected to come to a close in 2010, after the construction of the International Space Station is completed.

NASA is currently working on the next generation shuttle - Orion and its launch rocket Ares, expected to go into orbit in 2015. The Orion is being built to be the first manned flight to the moon and from there on to Mars.

Source: Guardian.co.uk, Cnn.com