What To Do With An Old Space Shuttle? Need A Lawn Ornament?

Why not sell them to a country wanting to get into space like Japan or the EU?

Why not leave them in space docked to the international space station. Perhaps the cargo bays could be pressurized to provide additional space for living quarters or science experiments. The shuttles could provide an emergency means of escape should there be some sort catastrophic failure on the station.

Gut it, recyle its innards and put the shell on top of a couple of poles outside the Pilot Truck Stop out on I-70.....you know over by that pothole.

Sink them of the coast of Texas to become a man made reef. That way they could also stop hurricanes and illegal immigrants from entering the country. And they would be cheaper to operate.

They should keep them flying until the new ships are ready. Why should we depend on the Russians to get into space?

Keep all of them in orbit, attached to Space Station, for future use as "shuttle" transports to Moon or space station orbiting Moon. Recommend NASA read some of Heinlein's SF novels for great ideas.

Or, if operational use is not feasible,
send one to hometown of each astronaut killed in shuttle/rocket accidents, for
memorial display in park or city center.
For example, one here in Guam for Commander McCool, former Guam resident.

"NASA is looking for ideas for its space shuttle fleet, which includes Endeavour, Atlantis and Discovery."

1 - Tell the media that the world is going to end soon and we need volunteers to save the human race.
2 - Collect the best of the best volutnteers who are liberals at the Kennedy Space Center, if they are lawyers too then it's an added plus.
3 - Fill up the Space shuttles with the volunteers.
4 - Send them on a one way trip to Betelgeuse.
5 - When they get too far to come back send them a thank you transmission for saving the planet and the human race.
It will be the truth afterall.

Sell it for scrap metal. Then tell the 'big three' that the money is their bail-out.

Upgrade. Give them a technological upgrade. They still work. NASA knows how to fix and operate them already. Keep them in service untill the next generation shuttle comes about. We've taken 10 steps forward with them, and now we're going to take 10 steps back in adopting Apollo era vehicles. I agree, that they are the best at getting to the moon and back. But for shuttling crew and mission equipment to and from the ISS? I think the shuttles are best suited for that.

Why not send several of them aloft at the same time, with skeleton crews, and land all but one of them on the moon? Use the shuttle still in orbit to make a return flight. Film the event; it would be a GREAT DOCUMENTARY and bring excitement to the space program which it badly needs.

If they're really that desperate ... they can give one to me. :-)

It has been decades since the U.S. sent the probes into deep space with the memorials of the human race and earth in them, in case other civilization finds them. Why not put a locator beacon on one and send it into deep space. It would be the way a shuttle would want to be retired anyway, not rusting in some museum somewhere. Plus, it is a testament to man's achievements on earth and if ever discovered by another intelligent species, would give them valuable clues to how we were conquering space right along with them (and how we only put one toilet on our spacecraft!).

I agree we should continue to fly them until our next generation spacecraft is ready. I also like the memorial idea. Although the shuttle legacy is regrettably scarred, it is still the largest and most historic vehicle ever to be flown in space. The shuttle and those who flew it and paid the ultimate price to fly it should be remembered with the highest possible honor.

Taking all three up with skeleton crews and leaving two as emergency reentry vehicles/additional room on the ISS is an excellent idea. And we definitely need to keep them in service until the next-gen ship is ready. Even then, if the shuttle is still useful, why should we get rid of it?

"Why not put a locator beacon on one and send it into deep space. It would be the way a shuttle would want to be retired anyway, not rusting in some museum somewhere. Plus, it is a testament to man's achievements on earth and if ever discovered by another intelligent species, would give them valuable clues to how we were conquering space right along with them." - David

I like that David, it fits in well with my idea except with mine there would be multiple shuttles to find and there would be many more clues inside for another intelligent species to figure out what Homo Sapiens were/are.

: o )

Place two working shuttles in permanet storage just in case we need them and until they are replaced by another heavy lift spacecraft. Oh sure it would be expensive, but I'd rather have access to a viable system than become totally reliant upon another country's willingness and capacity to assist the US.

I say that we do this....

1. Take one of the shuttles and keep it for storage.

2. Give one to a museum that helped NASA.

3. Take the last shuttle and convert it to a mini-shuttle that will dock with the International Space Station for a emergency trasport to earth.

Those are my ideas to do with it. Hope you aggree!

Sell them to Virgin Galactic to use as space tourist shuttle buses.

Donate them to Space Camp, to encourage the next generation of kids to find a joy in Astronautics and Science in general.

Or have the ultimate pay per view, for the idiots who want to abandon the space program altogether, Shuttle demolition derby!