There was no shortage of places willing to give the retiring orbiters their new homes, but four have been announced today by NASA.
Enterprise (currently housed at the Smithsonian) will be going to the Intrepid Air and Space Museum in New York City.
Discovery will take Enterprise‘s place in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, outside Washington.
Atlantis will go to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Atlantis‘ last flight is scheduled for June 28.
Endeavour will be going to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour is scheduled for her final flight on April 29th.
So, what shuttles are working now?
Endeavour (final launch April 29th) and Atlantis (final launch June 28th)
Are they no longer keeping one in ‘reserve’ in case of a suspected failure of the thermal protection system during a launch? I thought they had instituted that policy after the Columbia accident.
Atlantis is the backup for for Endeavour. Now what backup exists for Atlantis, I don’t know. They may just take the chance and hope that nothing happens or they dock with the ISS and attempt repairs as needed.