NASA will donate retirement ships

US space agency NASA has announced plans to donate museums of expired space shuttle in 2010.

Discovery ships landed at Kennedy Space Center after a successful mission on the ISS International Space Station, June 2008.Photo: AFP.

NASA plans to hand over the space shuttle Discovery to the Smithsonian Museum and bring other ships to "academies, science museums and similar organizations". "NASA believes the public wants to see these national heritage for years to come," US space agency spokesman Michael Curie said.

The agency began accepting applications from interested organizations until March 2009. They will study the proposals and make decisions based on the ability of the partner. Organizations wishing to receive shuttles will have to spend about $ 42 million in downtime and shuttle transport.

Under the plan, NASA's next space trip will be made by Discovery ship in February 2009 to transport some equipment to the ISS station. The endeavor of the Endeavor mission is the fourth and final space flight in 2008 in the United States. NASA will carry out 10 more flights of spacecraft before their spaceship expires in 2010.