Space Nerds Rejoice! The Super Guppy is on its way

superguppy

Calling all space-exploration enthusiasts, aerospace aficionados and other flight geeks: the Museum of Flight announced today that a vital piece of its full-scale Space Shuttle Trainer, the crew cabin section, will arrive June 30 via the NASA plane dubbed the “Super Guppy.” Personally, we were kind of hoping that NASA would’ve come up with something more… Read More…

First piece of Seattle’s Space Shuttle Trainer arrives

ss4

Seattle’s Museum of Flight today unpacked the first piece of its new Space Shuttle Trainer, unveiling one of three engine bells from the full-scale orbiter replica, which was used as a simulator to train every astronaut since the 1970s. First impression: This is going to bigger than I had imagined. The replica engine bell alone… Read More…

Space Shuttle Day: Seattle gets peek at trainer as Discovery descends on D.C.

trainersmall

It’s a big day for space nerds. On the East Coast today, Space Shuttle Discovery is making its final flight this morning – going from Florida to Washington, D.C., on the back of a Boeing 747, to a new home at the Smithsonian. And later this morning in Seattle, officials at the Museum of Flight will take… Read More…

Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos plans historic deep-sea Apollo 11 engine recovery

Apollo11photo

A massive bit of space history that inspired an entire generation of geeks has been found by Jeff Bezos — and ideally would be headed to Seattle’s Museum of Flight. The Amazon.com founder’s Bezos Expeditions has announced it’s identified, under 14,000 feet of water, the huge F-1 engines that powered the initial stage of Apollo… Read More…

Q&A: Charles Simonyi on the magic of space and the ‘coziness’ of the trip home

Charles Simonyi (GeekWire File Photo)

Seattle’s Museum of Flight this week dedicated its new Charles Simonyi Space Gallery, named after the former Microsoft engineer and two-time space traveler. When it opens this June, the new gallery will house a Soyuz capsule in which Simonyi returned to Earth for the second time, given to the museum by Simonyi on a long-term… Read More…

Congratulations, Seattle: You’re getting a space toilet

Charles Simonyi (GeekWire File Photo)

It just kept getting better and better at Seattle’s Museum of Flight today. First former, Microsoft engineer Charles Simonyi announced that he would be donating the Soyuz TMA-13 Reentry Module that returned him safely to Earth after his second trip to the International Space Station. He’ll be making the spacecraft available on a long-term loan to… Read More…

Seattle’s Museum of Flight getting a Soyuz spacecraft, courtesy Charles Simonyi

soyuzsmall

Seattle’s Museum of Flight lost out in the competition to exhibit a Space Shuttle orbiter, but it turns out it will be getting a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to display. Charles Simonyi, the former Microsoft executive who twice traveled to space as a tourist, will be contributing a Soyuz TMA-13 Reentry Module for the museum to… Read More…

Wash. governor to NASA: We’re ready for Space Shuttle, while L.A. and NYC futz around

Atlantis lifts off. (NASA photo)

NASA’s selection of new homes for the retired Space Shuttles has been more than a little messy. The space agency’s own inspector general found multiple mistakes in the selection process, but NASA insisted that it didn’t affect the outcome. Seattle’s Museum of Flight, which came up just short of landing one of the Space Shuttles, recently raised… Read More…

Seattle’s Museum of Flight questions data used by NASA to pick homes for retired shuttles

Atlantis lifts off. (NASA photo)

NASA staffers understated attendance for Seattle’s Museum of Flight and didn’t count Canadian visitors in their measure of the region’s international tourism during the site selection process for the retired Space Shuttle orbiters earlier this year. Those are the new assertions from Museum of Flight officials, as reported by the Seattle Times today. The paper… Read More…

NASA report shows why Seattle didn’t land a Space Shuttle

Atlantis lifts off. (NASA photo)

Seattle’s Museum of Flight was among the top contenders this spring for a decommissioned Space Shuttle — placing well ahead of many other locations and just slightly below the eventual winners in NASA’s internal scoring matrix, according to data from a new report issued by the space agency’s Office of Inspector General. The biggest shortcoming: Our region… Read More…