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Narrator: Even after NASA's Space Shuttle Program comes to an end, the agency will have the unique

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opportunity to share its unparalleled tale of flying the world's first reusable spacecraft

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. . . and it will do so from its very own launch site with the help of space shuttle Atlantis.

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Charlie Bolden, Administrator/NASA: First, here at the Kennedy Space Center,

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where every shuttle and so many other historic human spaceflights have originated,

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we'll showcase my old friend, Atlantis.

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(Cheers)

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Narrator: On April 12, NASA and its design partners received the "go" they've been hoping for

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with the announcement that Atlantis will join the rockets,

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capsules and artifacts from the Mercury,

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Gemini and Apollo eras at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

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Described as a super-charged, space shuttle-themed science center,

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it will feature interactive exhibits to engage, entertain and inspire even the

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world's most tech-savvy audience.

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Luis Berrios, NASA Design Specialist: This very Space Shuttle Plaza will be completely transformed.

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We plan on adding to the Shuttle Launch Experience attraction and

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enhancing the storytelling with what will become a very, very large addition to this complex.

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Narrator: Inside a new 65,000-square-foot facility in the heart of the complex's Space Shuttle

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Plaza, the 100-ton shuttle is expected to look like its soaring through space,

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with its landing gear raised and payload bay opened. Anchored at an angle, guests would get an

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up-close view of Atlantis' belly and the thousands of black heat shield tiles that allowed the

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shuttle to travel through Earth's harsh atmosphere more than 30 times.

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The shuttle's robot arm also could be deployed, as if reaching out to a satellite.

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Bill Moore, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex: We started working on the design

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probably earlier than most folks had done. And we went further than everybody's done.

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We've completed an entire conceptual design. It's all drawn up, we've got a lot of

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agreement with folks at NASA about how we want to do this.

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Narrator: The display could reveal how shuttle crews performed science and research

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experiments in the weightlessness of space, helped construct the International Space Station,

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and deployed, retrieved and serviced satellites, such as NASA's treasured Hubble Space Telescope.

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It also could unveil what it felt like for an astronaut to

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venture out on the first untethered spacewalk.

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Luis Berrios, NASA Design Specialist: One of my favorite is the Manned Maneuvering Unit,

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and how that impressed everyone to watch Bruce McCandless fly untethered, out there

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completely in space without a single, you know, just looking back on everyone else.

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What must that have felt like for him? It must have been amazing.

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Narrator: Designers want to paint a picture of just how many working parts it took to

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launch NASA's fleet. There are many features that could be worked into the display to

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help guests appreciate the shuttle system as a whole, including the solid rocket boosters

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and giant external fuel tank. Even structures saved during the deconstruction of

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Kennedy's Launch Pad 39B could be incorporated, such as the gaseous oxygen vent arm,

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called the "beanie cap," and the orbiter access arm, which is replete with the memories of

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astronauts walking through before waving farewell and boarding a shuttle for liftoff.

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While the spacecraft and its myriad of components will be the main attraction,

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designers also dove deep into the human aspect of the program.

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Luis Berrios, NASA Design Specialist: I mean, we treat our orbiters like our own family

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members and they're very close to our hearts.

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Bob Cabana, Center Director/NASA's Kennedy Space Center: The Space Shuttle Program has made

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possible countless scientific breakthroughs, it's produced unprecedented international

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cooperation, and it's fostered a future of human exploration made up of limitless possibilities.

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Narrator: Annually, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex reaches more than 1.5 million

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guests and by adding a flown shuttle to the mix, it's expecting a major boost in attendance.

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Bob Cabana, Center Director/NASA's Kennedy Space Center: It's really important that we get

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to keep an orbiter here at the Kennedy Space Center. We get over a million visitors a year.

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This is the home of human spaceflight, it's the home of the space shuttle.

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To be able to share that excitement, that story with all our visitors to inspire the next

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generation of explorers, it's huge in being able to tell the story of human spaceflight

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and of NASA. So, I think it's outstanding that Atlantis gets

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to stay here with us and not leave after her last flight.

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Narrator: Atlantis is scheduled to round out the shuttle program this year with its last

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flight -- STS-135. After its return from space, technicians and engineers

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will spend a few months prepping the vehicle for public display -- paving the way for a grand

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opening as early as the summer of 2013.

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Charlie Bolden, Administrator/NASA: I want to congratulate all of these fine

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institutions and wish them many visitors and exciting programs with the

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space shuttle fleet. For all of them, take good care of our vehicles.