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January 20, 2010

Larry Penkava – Shuttles and wayward birds

Anonymous The Randolph Guide Wed Jan 20, 2010, 10:15 AM EST

You can buy a space shuttle for less than wholesale.

That’s one thing I learned while researching for this column. They’ve been reduced from $42 million to the low price of $28.9 mil. How come they weren’t offered with the Cash for Clunkers program?

Just so you know, the shuttle program is supposed to end this fall, thus making the space vehicles obsolete. I wonder what they’ll do about the astronauts still up there in the space station. They should start thinking about getting a lift home.

If you’re interested in a slightly used space shuttle, you’d better hurry. The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum already has dibs on the Discovery with just the Atlantis, Endeavour and Enterprise still up for grabs.

You might get a really good deal with the Enterprise since it’s never been into space. Even though it’s low mileage, the fact that it hasn’t been broken in tends to depress the value.

NASA has set Feb. 19 as the deadline for bids. Otherwise, you’ll have to be satisfied with just a main engine – they’re listed at a low of $400,000 and a high of $800,000. NASA is letting them go for the cost of handling, plus you’ll be responsible for assembly.

So, this year will mark the end of shuttle travel after 29 years. Just imagine how much money Mattel and Fisher-Price have made on space shuttle playthings since 1981.

In other science news, a San Diego middle school was evacuated when a student’s science project was mistaken for a bomb. Maurice Luque, fire and rescue spokesman, said a vice principal called for the evacuation of Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School when he spotted the 11-year-old “genius-type kid’s” empty plastic bottle with wires.

Luque said an arson team came out and took photos and X-rays before pronouncing it harmless – unless you’re a burglar, that is. The boy was planning to use the materials to create a motion detector from instructions he’d found on the Internet.

I wonder if he knows much about space flight.

Speaking of flight, a hummingbird native to California and Mexico has been found freezing to death in Massachusetts.

The Allen’s hummingbird was found in the snow at Cape Cod with ice crystals on its wings. Apparently, its de-icers had malfunctioned. It was sped to the Wild Care of Cape Cod animal rehab center in Eastham.

Lela Larned, Wild Care executive director, said the bird was “at the end of the line.” Not surprising, since there’s not much beyond Cape Cod but open water.

The hummingbird had survived two snow storms and subfreezing temperatures by feeding on sugar water from a backyard feeder and flapping its wings nonstop.

Hmm … do hummingbirds shiver?

Larry Penkava, who has written Now and Then since 1994, enjoys reading about science.

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