Want a Space Shuttle? Sign the Petition!

Think New York City should have its very own space shuttle?
So, apparently, do 45,000 other people--that’s the number of folks who have (so far) signed a petition to have a space shuttle given to the Intrepid Air and Space Museum in Manhattan.
NASA is retiring their current space shuttle fleet, and three of them will be made available to different institutions across the country. The three shuttles are the Discovery, Endeavor and Atlantis.
The Intrepid is asking people to sign a petition in order to bring one of the shuttles to the city. The Intrepid's president, Bill White, says the petition will be sent to NASA once they have 50,000 signatures. White has been making the rounds of radio and TV shows to promote the Intrepid as a home for the shuttle.
The museum wants to display the shuttle along the aircraft carrier and the Growler submarine docked at Manhattan’s Pier 86.
In the 1960s, the Intrepid served as a spacecraft recovery vessel. It also recently served as the final stop of the “Legends of Aerospace Tour,” and was visited by Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan (the first and last astronauts to walk on the moon.)
Current exhibitions at the Intrepid include “Mission to Mars” (through June 30), which shows a full-scale replica of the Mars Rover. Viewers can also get a peek at Curiosity, the probe that will launch in March 2011.
For more information about the museum or the petition, go to the museum’s website at intrepidmuseum.org, or call 212 254-0072. The Intrepid is on 46th Street and 12th Avenue.

Egads! It's the Red Baron at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum

Nothing says the holidays like the Red Baron.
This week, “Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace” opened at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum (Pier 86; 12th Avenue and 46th Street; 877-957-SHIP), where it will be on view through mid-April.
Organized by the Charles M. Schulz Museum, the traveling exhibition features 29 iris prints of Charles Schulz’s original designs of the iconic beagle Snoopy in his incarnation as a World War I flying ace.
Fact-that-makes-the-exhibit-seem-even-more appropriate: Crew members in the 1960s were known to sketch Peanuts characters on the walls of the ship. Some of this “sailor art” still survives, and can be seen in the exhibition.
In addition, weekend hands-on activities centering on the show will be held each Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 PM. A digitized copy of the cruise book from 1961-62 can also be perused; it shows Peanuts characters at work on the ship. Charlie Brown, swab the decks.
While you’re at the Museum, you can also take part in the 2009 Intrepid Holiday Salute. Visitors can sign giant holiday cards to be sent to various military facilities across the country to wish the troops and their families happy holidays.
The Intrepid is also accepting donations of certain essential items, which will be shipped overseas to Marines serving in Afghanistan. The items include food (gum, trail mix, tuna); toiletries (toothpaste; shampoo) and other items like blankets, playing cards, and batteries. (For a complete list, go to intrepidmuseum.org).
All together now: Curse you, Red Baron!

Halloween Frights Galore Set Sail on the USS Intrepid

You may have noticed a distinct uptick in the number of witches, ninjas, and French maids on the streets of New York--and yes, that could just be everyday wear, given that it is New York, but in this case, it does mean that Halloween doth approach, so get thee to a pumpkin-carving class, or at least, get yourself some bat ears and try to feel festive.
To get you in the proper ghoulish mood, The USS Intrepid (Pier 86; West 46th Street and 12th Avenue; 877-957 SHIP; or 212-245-0072) has started the festivities early, with “Haunting on the Hudson,” a week of Halloween-y fun, running through Sunday, November 1.
The Haunted House part of the festivities allows guests to meander through the frightfully decorated Combat Information Center (there’s a joke in there somewhere…) and every day this week, visitors can catch a “Grumpkin” carving demonstration. (What is a Grumpkin? Well may you ask. They’re weird sculptures carved from giant fruit, and, as you can tell by their names, smiling cheerily is not in their nature.)
Things get creepier as the week progresses, with the bulk of the events happening, of course, on October 31. Magic Shows, stilt walkers (scary? who knows); face painting; storytelling; crystal balls or fortunetellers; and “Interactive Statue Scarecrows” all abound. That last one is enough to have us running from the ship.
If you’re made of stronger stuff, “Operation Slumber” commences on Halloween night; visitors can spend the night (ooh, creepy!), and also participate in a treasure hunt; watch a movie; hear haunted tales about the Intrepid; and finally, go to sleep (or not) on the aircraft carrier.
Well, it’ll make a good story.