Check out this amazing, full-size Space Shuttle flight deck simulator for sale on eBay:
In 1991, I received a grant to build a space shuttle simulator at a public school where I was a science teacher. After three years of construction (mostly by me), our simulator became operational. For the next six years, we ran 3-hour simulated shuttle missions with our students. Then, about 2 years ago, my district decided to participate in the Challenger Center program, and my simulator was suddenly expendable. I left that district, but they allowed me to take as many of the pieces of the simulator as I wanted. After over a year of paying $60 a month for a climate-controlled storage room, I can no longer afford to keep the simulator, nor do I forsee any way for me to re-build it at my home. So, I'm offering it here on ebay.
The simulator features almost all the control panels found on the flight deck of the space shuttle – 15 in all. They are exact replicas of the real panels, as construction blueprints were borrowed from Rockwell International, the contractor who builds the shuttles. We have panels from both the front of the shuttle (the Commander and Pilot station) and the aft (rear) where the Mission Specialists work.
My goal was to make the simulator as realistic as possible – every switch, every gauge – even working computer keypads (green pushbuttons in top picture). With these 15 panels, plus the other items that are included in this auction, you could build your own exact replica of the space shuttle cockpit.
Since this simulator is so intricate and complex, and since the asking price seems fairly high, I have created a website that describes, in great detail, every aspect of every item included in the auction. Please explore the website thoroughly – there are 20 individual pages and nearly 100 pictures. Afterward, I think you'll see what a bargain my opening bid really is!
(Thanks, Jed!)
