The Space Shuttle Discovery lands tomorrow… and almost immediately the clean up begins. Not a clean up to be recycled to go back to space, but rather a clean up to go to the museum. Yep, the Discovery is 27 years old. Has 150 million miles on it. A few dings here and there… but every museum seems to want it.

Sigh.

Apparently 21 institutions are vying to get their curator hands on the Discovery, but Major General Robert Holden (the big cheese at NASA) is the one who says where the shuttle will ultimately end up. The big announcement? Not until April 12, the anniversary of the shuttle first going up.

Sigh.

Wherever it ends up, I hope it serves to inspire a new generation of astronauts. I hope young boys and girls filter through the marble hallways and look up to see a grand view of lights reflecting off heat tiles, and then I hope they catch their breath as they peer inside. I hope they dream of zooming into the stars, visiting far planets, and exploring new galaxies.

Sigh.

This is one time when I wish the movies were real… that Ben Stiller’s security guard character really did have some mystical plaque that could allow the shuttle to roar back to life!