Bill White Captains Shuttle2NYC Initiative

Clad in an authentic NASA spacesuit, Bill White, who runs “the big ship” known as the Intrepid, told Imus today about the Shuttle2NYC program, which is designed to raise money and awareness for bringing a NASA space shuttle to New York City.

“It’s a great opportunity for New York,” said White, also president of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Twenty-one institutions around the country are vying to house either the Atlantis or Endeavor shuttles, which come with a price tag of $40 million each.

Part of the money, which White is in the process raising, goes to NASA so they can decontaminate, de-fuel, and environmentally prepare the spacecraft for visitation, which struck Imus as hilarious.

“They’re going to decontaminate it, and then put it in New York City?” he asked incredulously.

Imus admitted the Big Apple would be a perfect location the shuttle, and Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Governor David Paterson agree. In fact, they each spoke yesterday with NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, a 2-Star Marine Corps General and retired fighter pilot, who will make the ultimate decision.

At White’s suggestion that Imus too phone Bolden because “he’s a marine and he’d love to hear from you,”” Imus replied, “That’s crazy.”

Not crazy, however, is the notion of bringing a space shuttle to Manhattan, where money raised would go toward constructing a building to house the spacecraft at the end of the pier where the Intrepid lives.

Ever industrious, White pointed out that such an exciting venture would do more than just attract tourists to New York City every year.Superintendents of schools told White, “This would help inspire math and science scores to go up in the school system.”

Though he was difficult to take seriously in his getup this morning, White is completely dedicated to helping veterans in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. On June 24 of this year the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) will open in Bethesda, Maryland, a facility that took $60 million and 14 months to build. Its main function will be treating the hundreds of thousands of troops who bear the signature wound of these wars: traumatic brain injury.

“These IED explosions go off, and the concussive shockwaves affect their brain to the point they can’t get a job or drive a car,” White told Imus, who will broadcast from NICoE the day it opens. “We have to help them, because they have no hope right now.”

Because while amputees can get new limbs, White said, “you can’t get a new brain.”

“As Charles has sadly discovered,” Imus chimed in.

Correction: As we ALL have sadly discovered.

-Julie Kanfer