yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (11/30/90)
Karl Kristofferson Nov. 26, 1990
407-867-2468
KSC RELEASE NO: 189-90
SPACE SHUTTLE EXHIBIT "AMBASSADOR" TO BE DISPLAYED AT SPACEPORT
USA
Holiday visitors to the Kennedy Space Center's Spaceport USA
visitors complex have a special treat in store -- an opportunity
to explore the inside of a Space Shuttle Orbiter.
The "Ambassador," a full-scale, steel and fiberglass replica
of NASA's manned spaceplane -- measuring 56 feet high, 122 feet
long and with a wingspan of 78 feet -- will be ready to awe and
entertain visitors by the Christmas holidays.
Guests entering Ambassador will have an astronaut's view of
the cargo bay, the crew quarters and the flight deck. A video
display of Space Shuttle operations also will be available.
Built by an Apopka, Fla. firm for Irvin & Kenneth Feld
Productions, Inc. of Vienna, VA, the Shuttle replica will be
displayed at Spaceport USA under a mutual agreement between the
latter and TW Recreational Services Inc., which manages and
operates Spaceport USA for NASA under a concessionaire contract.
Originally constructed for showing at the Expo '92 World's
Fair in Seville, Spain, the owners first wanted to premiere
Ambassador to the public at Spaceport USA. Its name is derived
from the fact that it is destined for extensive international
showing.
The replica will be open to visitors during normal Spaceport
USA operating hours, usually 9 a.m. to dark, and will be fully
lighted for viewing after dark for extended evening operations.
It will be on display four months, beginning in mid-December,
with an option to extend through mid-September of 1991.
Would-be space travelers, however, would be wise to make
plans to visit Spaceport USA by early April of next year to be
assured of this rare opportunity for an inside look at the
world's only full-scale replica of a Space Shuttle.