PRESS RELEASE
On February 15, the Museum will begin the world’s only exclusive crew compartment and cockpit tours of the NASA Space Shuttle Full Fuselage Trainer (FFT). The experiences will be offered on the third Saturday and Sunday of each month, with four additional tours on President’s Day. The FFT was built and used by NASA to train every shuttle crew member for their missions, and the 1-hour crew compartment tour is an experience only offered at The Museum of Flight.
Participants will learn about the history and operation of the space shuttle orbiters and gain an understanding of what it was like to be a shuttle astronaut in ways that can only be appreciated by being in their environment. The Space Shuttle Crew Compartment Experience is available four times a day every third weekend of the month and is limited to six people aged 12 and up. Participants under 15 must be accompanied by an adult. Regular Museum admission is required; reservations/advanced purchases are recommended.
Tickets > $40 General Admission/$30 Museum Member.
NASA Space Shuttle Full Fuselage Trainer
NASA’s 30-year space shuttle program ended in 2011, and the Space Shuttle Full Fuselage Trainer has been on exhibit at the Museum since 2013. The FFT is a full-scale mockup of the space shuttle orbiter, minus the wings, and was the only shuttle trainer built by NASA that included the fuselage. It was used for general familiarization training, emergency egress training, and training for certain functions such as galley operation, payload bay systems, and lighting. It also served as a test bed for upgrades to the shuttle fleet. Built at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in the 1970s, it was the oldest mockup in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (SVMF). The SVMF was located inside Building 9 of JSC in Houston, Texas. It housed several space shuttle mockups, including the FFT, as well as mockups of every major pressurized module on the International Space Station. While many of the systems in the SVMF mockups are flight-like, they do not contain what are generally known as simulators (as used to train pilots). Instead, the FFT and other trainers in the SVMF were used for astronaut training in housekeeping, in-flight maintenance, stowage familiarity, ingress/egress, etc.
It typically took at least a year and sometimes longer for astronauts to train, depending on the mission’s objectives. Each crew spent up to 100 hours training in the SVMF in more than 20 separate classes. It took a versatile team comprising a variety of skills and experience to develop, maintain, and operate the SVMF. Specialists such as designers, engineers, project managers, electronic technicians, and shop technicians were used to create accurate mockups to train astronauts, test systems and procedures, and conduct training.
The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field halfway between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Museum admission for adults is $29. Youths 5 through 17 are $21, and youth 4 and under are free. Seniors 65 and over $25. Groups of ten or more: $23 per adult, $16 per youth, $21 per senior. Admission is free from 5 to 9 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month. The Museum offers free quarterly Sensory Day programs, $3 admission through the Museums for All program, plus military and other discounts. Parking is always free. There is a full lunch menu café operated by McCormick & Schmick’s. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org.
