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Space shuttle fire sale! Free after $28.8m in S&H and some Congressional lobbying
Hey, you! Yeah, you! Come here and listen. Have you ever wanted to own your very own space shuttle? Of course you have, and now NASA is giving away one orbiters apiece to three lucky winners free of charge. All you need to do is follow these three steps: Be a qualified institution. Currently there's just 21 in the running, including the Kennedy Space Center and the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. Possess the proper indoor facility to house the veteran astro-car in a climate-controlled environment. It should also have a big door since at no time can it be dismantled. Pay for shipping and handling. According to the Wall Street Journal, that entails having a runway in your backyard, strapping the shuttle to the back of a specialized 747 jet, and covering post-flight repairs. Estimated cost is $28.8 million. Should you meet the above requirements and manage to add yourself to the list of suitors, that gives you a 13.64 percent unweighted probability to nab one! Just because NASA picks you, though, doesn't mean you actually win -- and if that logic seems fuzzy, allow us to clarify with a quote from aerospace engineer and shuttle historian Dennis Jenkins: "Congress will immediately go into an uproar and un-decide for them." Tricky fine print, best of luck!
