 summer of 2013, John Valasek and his team in the aerospace engineering department will reactivate this historic simulator in Aggieland. He plans to get much more life out of the MBS, including Aggie and public access to simulated shuttle flight and a range of flight development projects. Valasek also has insisted on keeping all equipment touched by NASA astronauts exactly as it was when astronauts flew their last MBS sortie. Imagine what it means to more generations who will have access to the touch and feel experienced by real, spacefaring shuttle astronauts, and to the engineering students who lead projects with the MBS that still has that historic authenticity. And those experiences are just up Highway 6 from NASA Johnson Space Center at Texas A&M University.
Again, what a poignant transition for this historic simulator, NASA’s manned space program and Aggies.