Speaking to the “space-going “public at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at Cape Canaveral, FL, I find the energy level among visitors is already pretty high. But it’s about to get a tremendous boost when the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit opens on June 29, 2013. I visited the construction site this week and was amazed at the way Atlantis will be displayed to the public.
Visiting Atlantis on March 5, 2013. (Tom Jones)
Atlantis was the last space shuttle orbiter I would fly, on STS-98, so even shrink-wrapped as she is, I am still moved when visiting the ship that took me to space, kept me alive to work at the International Space Station, and returned me safely to my family. Delaware North, the company that runs NASA’s visitor complex here, is spending about $85 million to give visitors an up close and personal look at the orbiter. She’ll almost be close enough to touch, and Atlantis is positioned in a steep left bank, giving guests a breath-taking sense of her impressive wingspan.
Entering the building, guests will get a capsule history of the space shuttle’s history from its designers and astronauts, then a high-def introduction to Atlantis’ storied career, beginning with her first flight in 1985. Leaving the theater, visitors will walk “through the screen” to view the orbiter as she looked when in orbit. Close at hand will be a mockup of the Hubble Space Telescope. A wide ramp will enable visitors to spiral down and around the orbiter to see Atlantis, her cargo bay, windows and cabin, wings, engines, and heat shield tiles from every angle. Beneath the orbiter will be a roomy plaza, where guests will enter the Shuttle Launch Experience simulation. With blast-off under their belts, visitors will exit to a simulation bay where a future space traveler can try one’s own hand at flying and landing the space shuttle.
Atlantis’ immense heat-shield-tiled belly, towering above visitors. (Tom Jones)
You’ll have to drag me out of Atlantis’ presence–it’s going to be that good!
Remember, before leaving Atlantis’ home, pick up a copy of my story detailing my Atlantis mission to the ISS on STS-98, and my three other missions: Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir.
www.AstronautTomJones.com
Wow, it sounds amazing! Hoping to get over the pond next year to visit Atlantis, Discovery and Enterprise; really excited. And I have the book already; folks, if you haven’t got it yet it is a must read, you’ll feel like you’re up there too!