Removing Requirements Drops Price By $13.2 Million

This week NASA issued a follow-up Request for Information (RFI) for ideas from education institutions, science museums and other appropriate organizations about their ability to purchase and publicly display orbiters after the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program.  The final Space Shuttle missions are currently planned for 2010.

NASA's original RFI in December 2008 noted that a potential shuttle recipient would have to pay an estimated $42 million for the cost of "safeing" an orbiter, preparing it for display and ferrying it to a US destination airport. NASA updated the requirements and tasks needed to make each orbiter safe for disposition so that the purchaser will not pay for these processes.

Except for cost and scheduled delivery changes, the 2008 and 2010 RFIs are virtually the same. In this follow-up RFI, NASA revised the estimated display preparation and ferrying costs to $28.8 million.

The schedule for transferring the orbiters may be six months earlier than originally anticipated. NASA also desires to make selections a year before receipt of the orbiters, so recipient organizations will have sufficient time to conduct any fundraising activities necessary to support preparation and ferry costs.

RFI responses are due to NASA by 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 19, 2010. Organizations that responded to the original RFI do not need to resubmit a full response, but should clarify their positions with respect to these changes.

NASA is already planning to transfer space shuttle Discovery to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Shuttle orbiters Endeavour and Atlantis will be available for placement no earlier than July, 2011.

FMI: http://www.nasa.gov/transition