November 1, 2010 — Space shuttle Discovery is ready to fly its
final flight this week, but where it will make its last landing
is still up in the air. Long thought destined for the
Smithsonian, NASA's oldest flying orbiter may actually end up
elsewhere unless the Washington, DC institution can find the
millions of dollars needed to prepare Discovery for delivery and
display, collectSPACE has learned. The first of NASA's three
remaining space shuttles set to retire after flying its last
mission -- STS-133, scheduled to launch Nov. 3 at 3:52 p.m. EDT
-- Discovery has been identified by NASA since 2008 as being set
aside for the Smithsonian. "The National Air and Space Museum
has been offered the space shuttle Discovery," NASA spokesman
Michael Curie told collectSPACE almost two years ago when the
agency first announced it would award its three orbiters --
Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour -- to museums. Like the 20
other organizations that applied to NASA for a retired orbiter
though, the Smithsonian's National