Intrepid's Space Shuttle Bid Will Have to Wait Until End of Year

The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum will have to wait a bit longer to find out if it’s getting one of three soon-to-be decommissioned NASA space shuttles.The space agency originally stated it would announce a decision in early July about who would get the shuttles, but is now saying the winners won’t find out until December at the earliest, according to Queens State Assemblyman Michael DenDekker.

“They extended the decision until the end of the year,” DenDekker said at a press conference aboard the Intrepid Monday.  The Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour are all still in service and most likely will not be decommissioned until early 2011.

The Discovery is reportedly going to The Smithsonian in Washington D.C. leaving 20 institutions fighting for the other two shuttles. DenDekker introduced a resolution calling for the one of the shuttles to land on the Intrepid, which is permanently docked on the west side of Manhattan.

He presented the resolution, which was passed unanimously by the Assembly, to the executive director of the Intrepid, Susan Marenoff, on Monday.  DenDekker said they would next FedEx the resolution to the director of NASA to show the support in the state for getting a shuttle. "If NASA wants people to come and see the space shuttle there is no better place to put it than here on the Intrepid," said State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, whose district includes the museum.x “If NASA wants the most eyeballs to see it we have over 45 million tourists,” added Marenoff. “This should be the first location that they choose.” Officials in New York, including Gov. David Paterson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, have all pushed for the city to get a shuttle.