NASA officials have given one of its four space shuttle training aircrafts piloted by Amarillo native Rick Husband to a museum in his hometown.
Because NASA has discontinued the shuttle program, the training aircraft is no longer needed. The donated craft is scheduled to be delivered next week to the Texas Air & Space Museum.
Museum Board President Ron Fernuik told the Amarillo Globe-News that the aircraft is a significant gift to the city because it is "bringing one of our own home."
Husband, commander of the Columbia final mission, and six other astronauts died Feb. 1, 2003, when the shuttle broke up while re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
The training aircraft was upgraded from its original production version -- a Grumman Gulfstream II -- to simulate the space shuttle.
