How did you win Space Shuttle Atlantis?
NASA put out a request for proposals from US museums and attractions that would be interested in displaying any of their shuttles. We’d been working on our proposal for years because we knew Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC) would be a good home for it – every shuttle flew from Kennedy and half of them landed back here. Also, we already get a lot of people coming here to learn about space.
What does the Atlantis mean to KSCVC?
It’s the biggest thing we’ve done, both in size and cost – the Atlantis measures 122.17ft (37.25m) long and the attraction covers 90,000sq ft (8,361sq m) and cost $100m (E75.6m, £65.1m) to build. It means a lot to us to have nationwide and international attention because we’ve reminded people that America’s still very much in the space business and is preparing for a different space programme, using a different capsule for the astronauts to ride in.
The KSCVC is in Orlando so we’re competing with the theme parks. To get people to come and see us, we have to do some pretty big things now and again.
How’s the Atlantis being displayed?
We thought it’d be neat to show the shuttle as if it were in flight, so came up with the idea of suspending it. This way people can see the bottom and sides of the ship, the engines and the docking mechanism and all the things that are unique to a space vehicle. We’ve tilted it at a 43.21-degree angle with its nose 30ft (9m) from the floor and its left wing down slightly. The payload bay doors are open, so visitors can imagine they’re about to board and go into space.
What was the inspiration?
The people who worked on the Atlantis – who maintained it, prepared it for flight and brought it home – had a real relationship with the vehicle. The astronauts described that special moment when you first see the shuttle that’s going to take you into space. We wanted the average person to get a brief moment of what that must have been like.
What’s the experience?
We wanted people to engage with the shuttle rather than just stand and stare at it, so there are 167 simulators and exhibits in the building including four cinematic productions and a 16ft (5m)-long interactive media wall.
Visitors can experience the sensation of floating in space, sit on a space potty and test their skills at landing an orbiter, docking to the International Space Station (ISS), manipulating the Canadarm and repairing the Hubble telescope. Everyone knows that the Hubble telescope is far out in space taking amazing pictures, but no one knows what it looks like, so we’ve made a full size mock up of it. It’s 43ft (13m)-long and 14ft (4m)-wide and helps people understand how it operates and gets power.
Going from large to small, there’s a mock up of parts of the ISS for children to explore plus tyres from the last mission on display. When a tyre hits the runway at 220 miles an hour it gets chewed up pretty bad.
All of these exhibits complement the existing Shuttle Launch Experience – a realistic simulation of what it’s like to launch into space. We’ve married the Launch Experience and the new shuttle attraction together so visitors can see the shuttle, get the history, understand why it was made, participate in some of the experiences the astronauts did in training, then go and ride it off the launch pad. It’s a whole experience and people are really enjoying that.
What’s the most popular?
The Reveal Theatre is the one people talk about most. We show a film on the history of Atlantis on a large screen, which gives an emotional and visual sense of what it was like to be around the shuttle.
Then the screen opens and you’re staring at the shuttle from about 20ft away. It’s breath taking. Some people cry, others applaud, others are quiet and reverential. People come from all walks of life – they could be a labourer or the head of a company – and they’re all stunned.
At the other end of the spectrum is the Re-entry Slide that was built around the experience of coming in to land. It’s simple, but people love it. Some notable VIPs have asked to go on the slide – the NASA administrator went down it several times.
What have been the challenges?
It was challenging to get $100m together. The way our contract works with NASA means we have a trust fund that we used. We also secured a line of credit and we’ll pay it back through revenue generated by ticket, food and retail sales.
Moving and fitting the Atlantis was another challenge. The fitting was pretty tight – there were just a couple of inches between the edge of the building and the edge of the wing. We left the far side of the building open so we could roll the shuttle in, and then hoisted it in the air to tilt it. It took two weeks to get it in the right position. It weighs quite a bit [151,315 lbs], so we were nervous.
Getting the payload bay doors to stay open was particularly nerve wracking. They’re 60ft (18ft)-long and weigh 2,500 lbs each and aren’t made to be opened here on earth other than by NASA’s giant machinery, which we don’t have. Some engineers said they weren’t sure we’d be able to do it, but we did.
Once the Atlantis was installed, we had to finish the building. That was difficult because we had to make sure nothing touched the vehicle when we were painting, putting in sprinkler systems, air conditioning and electrics. We were doing that with this giant, priceless vehicle [the Atlantis orbiter is valued at $2bn (E1.5bn, £1.3bn)] in the middle of where we were working, which was a tense process.
How long did the project take?
We started planning four years ago, then spent 18 months building it.
The nuttiest thing we did was draw up the plans and get ready to build before we knew we were going to get the shuttle. That saved us a lot of time, as when we got the approval from the administrator, we were ready to start building.
What feedback have you had?
The commonest feedback is: “Is it real?” People haven’t seen one this close so don’t know what to expect. They expect it to be beat up, but it’s in great shape.
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