Home>Museum News>Crew Compartment Trainer payload bay to be built by Display Dynamics Inc.
Story at a Glance
• CCT-1 payload bay, engine and tail sections and a dedicated educational area to be built by Display Dynamics Inc. • These pieces of the exhibit, along with visitor observation and access structures, are scheduled to be completed by September 2013 • During construction of the exhibit visitors will be able to view the CCT-1 in the Cold War Gallery
Photos
DAYTON, Ohio -- Conceptual drawing of the NASA Space Shuttle Crew Compartment Trainer (CCT) exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. The CCT is a high-fidelity representation of the Space Shuttle Orbiter crew station that was used primarily for on-orbit crew training and engineering evaluations. (September 2012 udpate)
DAYTON, Ohio -- Conceptual drawing of the NASA Space Shuttle Crew Compartment Trainer (CCT) exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. The CCT is a high-fidelity representation of the Space Shuttle Orbiter crew station that was used primarily for on-orbit crew training and engineering evaluations. (September 2012 udpate)
DAYTON, Ohio -- Conceptual drawing of a "Learning Node" at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. The Learning Nodes will provide a unique environment for lectures and demonstrations, as well as extensions of the exhibit experience. (September 2012 update)
DAYTON, Ohio -- Conceptual drawing of a "Learning Node" at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. The Learning Nodes will provide a unique environment for lectures and demonstrations, as well as extensions of the exhibit experience. (September 2012 update)
by Rob Bardua
National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
9/7/2012 - DAYTON, Ohio -- The Crew Compartment Trainer (CCT-1) exhibit took another step toward becoming reality today as Display Dynamics Inc. of Clayton, Ohio, was selected to reproduce a full-scale mock-up of a NASA shuttle payload bay, engine and tail sections and a dedicated educational area. The contract was awarded for $1,557,150.00.
These pieces of the exhibit, along with visitor observation and access structures, are scheduled to be completed by September 2013. The museum will continue to populate the exhibit with additional artifacts, such as satellites, along with items obtained from NASA, including space gear, hardware and other equipment, through early 2014.
During construction of the exhibit, visitors will be able to view the CCT-1 in the Cold War Gallery. When completed, the exhibit will allow the public to look into the cockpit and mid-deck areas of a shuttle and learn how astronauts trained for their missions.
According to Museum Director Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jack Hudson, today's announcement was an important milestone in the CCT-1 exhibit process.
"We are extremely excited to be able to move forward with our plans to create the CCT-1 interactive exhibit," said Hudson. "This exhibit will be an important educational tool for the museum as we continue to strive to provide our visitors with opportunities to learn about the Air Force and especially programs based in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)."
The STEM Learning Node will provide a unique environment for lectures and demonstrations, as well as extensions of the exhibit experience. This 60-seat "gallery classroom" will allow museum staff to facilitate new STEM experiences, while guest scientists and engineers from Air Force organizations, the aerospace industry, and area colleges and universities will be invited to share their expertise. Multimedia presentations will introduce students to air and space missions and the men and women responsible for their execution. When the node is not in use for scheduled programs, multimedia presentations will captivate public audiences.
The museum worked with the Operational Contracting Division Base Support Acquisition Branch (AFLCMC/PKOB) to seek potential contractors for the job. Proposals were received and evaluated in accordance with the criteria contained in the solicitation. Two rounds of technical evaluations were performed by a designated museum technical team to determine how well the proposals met the requirements. Once the evaluations were completed, AFLCMC/PKOB awarded the selection of the contract based on price.
Eventually, the CCT-1 exhibit will be moved to a new Space Gallery in the museum's planned fourth building as part of a multi-phase, long-term expansion plan to house the museum's growing space collection, as well as the Presidential Aircraft Gallery and Global Reach Gallery.
Additional information on the CCT-1 exhibit, including an artist's rendering of the completed exhibit and STEM Learning Node, is available at http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/cct.asp.
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is located on Springfield Street, six miles northeast of downtown Dayton. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day). Admission and parking are free.
NOTE TO PUBLIC: For more information, please contact the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at (937) 255-3286.
NOTE TO MEDIA: (Per federal regulation, contractor bids or proposals may not be released.) For more information, contact Rob Bardua in the National Museum of the United States Air Force Public Affairs Division at (937) 255-1386.
