Anyone who checked Google today would have noticed a very cool image of a cosmonaut and a rocket ship blasting off. This was a very creative way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic mission as the first human in space. His mission truly changed the course of history. It scared the Americans into action and a mere eight years later, they had landed a man on the Moon.
Today was also the day that NASA announced where the remaining Space Shuttles would retire. Atlantis will stay at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida; Endeavour is off to the California Science Center in Los Angeles; Discovery is going to the Smithsonian; and the test shuttle, Enterprise (yes, it really was named for the Star Trek ship) will be found at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.
The best part of this for Canadians is that while Atlantis and Discovery are going to be keeping their Canadarms, Endeavour's is coming home. No word yet on where it is going to go, but I think it should go somewhere that Canadians can see it. The Canadarm has played a vital role in dozens of missions including helping to build the International Space Station, servicing Hubble and is a part of our heritage (I feel a commercial coming on...).
So, where should it go? The Air and Space Museum is a logical choice, but I don't think people really go there. My vote? The 5th floor of the ROM. It's big enough and woefully underutilized. And, people actually go to the ROM! Plus, the Canadarm would look super cool in that crystal.
Stay tuned to see how it all turns out!
It's going in my backyard, right next to the fish pond. End of story.
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