Space Coast vying for retired shuttle

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (WOFL FOX 46) - One of most popular exhibits at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is this full size mock-up of the space shuttle, and it's partly why top brass here are refining their sales pitch amidst stiff competition to receive one of the orbiters which will be retired with the program.

"It's appropriate, since we are here at Kennedy Space Center said Andrea Farmer," spokesperson for the Delaware North owned Visitor Complex. "This is where every space shuttle is launched from, more than half of them have landed here, and they've been cared for here."

Twenty-one companies are vying for NASA's giveaway of shuttles Atlantis and Endeavor, but just getting the shuttle to the location is why so few can afford it. Prepping and shipping the spacecraft on the back of a Boeing 747 will cost the winners close to $29 million dollars. NASA also requires the retired shuttles be stored indoors, which can be very expensive.

The Visitor Complex says they would display the shuttle in a unique way if they get one. The tourist destination envisions getting the wheels off the ground, which opens up the possibility of it being positioned vertically with payload bay doors open, or even hanging upside down. But officially, Farmer would say little else about a possible display for competitive reasons.

"Let's just say that we want to position it and display it such that it's working in space she said.

Since there's no guarantee a shuttle would retire on the Space Coast, politicians like U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas have been lobbying with letters, while websites are popping up with online petitions.

The Visitor Center already houses actual spacecraft from every retired NASA space program; Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. But the tourist destination, which draws one and half-a-million visitors a year won't say whether or not it would increase its price of admission if the Space Coast wins a shuttle.

Meanwhile, a decision on who will win the shuttles must wait until it's determined if Congress will pass legislation to officially add an extra launch.