McMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon space museum didn’t snag a full space shuttle but it has been awarded several artifacts of the space shuttle program.
NASA said Tuesday that the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville will receive artifacts that include a shuttle cockpit simulator and an orbital maneuvering system engine.
The simulator was used by astronauts to train for shuttle missions. A spokesman for Oregon U.S. Rep. David Wu says the orbital maneuvering engine was used for maneuvering in space and re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. The engine awarded to Evergreen flew on several shuttle missions.
Evergreen President Tim Wahlberg tells the McMinnville News-Register the museum appreciates that NASA is making the artifacts available.
NASA began saying its goodbyes to the shuttle program on the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle launch. Just two more shuttle flights remain.
