Ground Broken for New Atlantis Home, Exhibit

January 24, 2012 — NASA may have retired its fleet of space shuttles. But Atlantis still has a big mission ahead of it — to inform and inspire generations of visitors to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. That mission came one step closer to reality last week with a groundbreaking ceremony that launched construction of the new 65,000-square-foot exhibit at the complex's Space Shuttle Plaza. The new exhibit should open in summer 2013 at a cost of $100 million. "It is an honor to create the home for space shuttle Atlantis and to work with NASA to tell its story to the world," said Jeremy Jacobs, chairman of Delaware North Companies, which operates the visitor complex for NASA. From October 1985 to July 2011, Atlantis helped carry the nation's astronauts and payloads on journeys into low Earth orbit. The spacecraft was the first to dock with the Russian space station Mir and aided in the construction of the International Space Station. From Atlantis' payload bay, NASA deployed the Magellan and Galileo planetary probes, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and other satellites. Atlantis also was the last shuttle to fly a servicing mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The vehicle will be displayed as if in flight with its payload bay doors open, offering a view of its 60-foot-long cargo area. The exhibit will also feature a variety of simulators and interactive elements. "This is not just a story about the hardware," said Bill Moore, chief operating officer of the visitor complex. "This is really a true story of hardworking people who worked together — thousands of people — to do amazing things." Atlantis flew nearly 126 million miles during a total of 307 days in space. It returned to Earth for good on July 21, 2011, landing for the last time on Kennedy's shuttle runway. Other shuttles are also finding homes in museums or science centers. Discovery is destined for the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, and Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center. Enterprise, used in approach and landing tests at the beginning of the space shuttle program, will move to New York‘s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

A groundbreaking ceremony officially began construction on space shuttle Atlantis' new home at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Image credit: NASA STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony. Image credit: NASA This initial design concept for the new exhibit showcases Atlantis as though it were in flight. Artist rendering by PGAV Destinations for Delaware North Parks & Resorts.

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