The museum has just completed a display highlighting one of
our most treasured artifacts, Space Shuttle Main Engine Nozzle Unit # 2029. During
the operational period of NASA’s STS program between 1981 and 2011, every Space
Shuttle was equipped with three RS-25 main rocket engines; each engine had an
individual exhaust nozzle. A veteran of five space flights, nozzle #2029 flew
on three Endeavor and two Atlantis missions from 1994 through 1996 before being
retired to the metallurgy lab where NASA conducted tests on the impact of the
burning propellant on the nozzles components.
At sixty-four square feet and over nine feet in height, the newly
constructed bright orange display structure securely elevates nozzle #2029 to permit
museum patrons an unobstructed view of the complex structure of this
engineering masterpiece.
- MFAM Curator
During construction
Finished Display
