Please sign the petition to bring a space shuttle to New York City and The Intrepid.

NASA is retiring their Space Shuttle fleet and has announced that they will make three space shuttles – Discovery, Endeavor and Atlantis – available to different institutions throughout the US.

New York City would make an ideal home for one of these retiring shuttles. The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum has applied to NASA for consideration to bring the shuttle to New York City’s west side. The shuttle would be prominently displayed alongside of The USS Intrepid and the Growler Submarine at Manhattan’s Pier 86.

The Intrepid has a proud history with NASA and our space program, serving as a primary spacecraft recovery vessel during the 1960s. More recently, The Intrepid hosted the final stop of the “Legends of Aerospace Tour”, which included visits by Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, the first and last astronauts to walk on the moon.

Please sign our petition to NASA. Help bring a space shuttle here to NYC and to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Your participation can help further enrich our minds and our imaginations. Thank you for your support.

To sign the petition please click on the link below

www.intrepidmuseum.org/shuttle/

Tags: News

By BRITTANY WALLMAN; Sun Sentinel
Published: 03/23/10 5:29 pm | Updated: 03/23/10 7:29 pm

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.. –
A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer will be commissioned in Port Everglades on November 13th, a rare event that is being hailed as a small but much-needed boost for tourism and, possibly, patriotism.

The Navy announced this week that it had selected Fort Lauderdale for the ceremony that will mark the entry into service of the USS Jason Dunham, the Navy’s “most advanced warship,” named after a Marine Corps corporal who died in Iraq.

“To see a ship commissioned, this is kind of spectacular,” said Richard Winer, a Navy World War II veteran who lives in Fort Lauderdale.

Navy Lt. Amalon Aneson said the commissionings typically draw 3,000-plus visitors from out of town, including the 250 sailors who’ll sail the ship, and their friends and families.

Fort Lauderdale “has been a great Navy town,” Aneson said, adding that it has been “itching to have” a commissioning.

It’s been five years since the last such ceremony; this event, planned for November, will be the fifth in the port’s history. It follows the commissioning of the USS Bainbridge in 2005, the USS Higgins in 1999, the USS Cole in 1996 and the USS Leyete Gulf in 1987.

The USS Jason Dunham, a 510-foot-long Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, will be stationed in Norfolk, Va.

Dunham, 22, was attacked by an insurgent in Iraq on April 14, 2004, and while the two wrestled, the assailant released a grenade. Dunham jumped on it, covering it with his body and helmet. He died, but he was credited with saving the lives of at least two fellow Marines. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler said the event would be a welcome boost to the local economy. The last commissioning drew a crowd of 5,000.

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/03/23/1121026/navy-announces-ship-commissioning.html#ixzz0j6AhGqWH

Tags: News, USS Jason Dunham DDG-109

It’s built with 7.5 tons of metal from the World Trade Center.
By Timothy J. Gibbons Story updated at 3:26 AM on Saturday, Mar. 13, 2010
http://jacksonville.com

The numbers cut into the ton of steel hanging over the vehicle ramp on the USS New York bear testimony to the symbolism inherent in the giant vessel.

Those figures – the number of uniformed personnel, including police and fire officials and members of the armed services, who died in the terrorist attacks of 9/11- share space on the chunk of metal from the World Trade Center with the ship’s motto: “Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget.”

The very fabric of the New York, an amphibious transport dock ship, is built from steel from the skyscrapers destroyed that day, with 7.5 tons of metal from the felled twin towers used to make up the vessel’s bow stem.

“It leads us through the water,” said Cmdr. Curt Jones, the commanding officer of the vessel and a native of New York. “It has a very visceral feel for us.”

Two similar ships – the USS Arlington, named in remembrance of the Pentagon attack; and the USS Somerset, named for the Pennsylvania county where American Airlines Flight 93 crashed – are being built with metal from those sites.

Even apart from the symbolism, the New York is an impressive vessel in its own right. Four decks that can accommodate tons of machinery as well as a well deck designed for landing crafts allows the ship to transport 700 Marines and their equipment to wherever they need to go.

“We carry the Marines to the fight,” said Seaman Mike Kolbeck, who helps with loading and unloading vehicles. “That’s what we focus on.”

The ship also carries a suite of self-defense weapons, the reason for its quick visit to Mayport Naval Station. Next week, the New York will head out to sea to test-fire its missiles and guns as it continues to prepare for a 2012 deployment.

It’s too early to say what that deployment will be but because of its large spaces, Jones said, the ship can handle a number of missions, from peacekeeping jobs to handling evacuations.

Since the New York’s commissioning in November in its namesake city, it has also handled another job: Ambassador for the Navy.

About 50,000 people, many with ties to those killed in the World Trade Center, visited the ship when it was in New York, and dignitaries from around the world came for the commissioning.

“It was an international day of loss,” said Erich Schmidt, the ship’s executive officer, said about 9/11. “This ship means something to so many people.”

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-03-13/story/uss_new_york_visits_mayport

Tags: News