NASA Space shuttle trainer Lands at AF Museum

The newest arrival at the National Museum of the United States Air Force is the space shuttle that was once used to train astronauts that included more than 75 members of the U.S Air force.

Used for more than three decades, The Space Shuttle Crew Compartment Trainer 1 (CCT-1) was used at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

SPACE.com quoted Lt. Gen. Jack Hudson, the museum's director, "Today is a great day for the Air Force as we take another step forward in illustrating the rich history of the [U.S.] Air Force's space programs and vital Air Force, NASA and aerospace industry partnerships. CCT-1 will be a very popular exhibit and provide exciting hands-on educational opportunities for children and adults of all ages."

The unique aspect of this is that the visitors can actually get inside the CCT and unlike some space shuttles which are simply static displays. They can view it the beginning of beginning Aug. 24.

"I'll always remember the space shuttle as the vehicle that took me to space, but I always say that the second-best thing about going to space is coming back and telling people about it," space shuttle astronaut and Ohio native Michael Foreman said. "Telling the story and sharing the experience with others by adding [CCT-1] to the Air Force museum will allow people to see and understand more of what we experienced." As quoted in SPACE.com

It is believed that over the next year, the museum decide to build a mock-up of a payload bay and a tail section and temporarily house the exhibit in the Cold War Gallery until a new, $48 million hangar is built in 2014.

Curator Dr. Doug Lantry was quoted in wdtn.com saying, "We'll also be building a learning node to accompany the exhibit where our museum educators will be able to take classes of children and adults and everybody and do interactive and one-on-one audio, video based teaching about science, technology, engineering and mathematics as it is related to the space program."