The space shuttle Endeavour returns atop a NASA 747 aircraft to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida Dec. 12, 2008. The shuttle was transported back to KSC after bad weather in Florida forced it to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Nov. 30. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- NASA has announced plans to give away its space shuttles once they retire in the year 2010, according to media reports Friday.

    The space agency plans to donate space shuttle Discovery to the Smithsonian museum, and give the others to "educational institutions, science museums, and other appropriate organizations."

Space shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, June 14, 2008, capping a successful expansion job at the international space station, now more spacious and robust thanks to a new billion-dollar science lab.(Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    "These are national assets, national treasures and something that NASA feels the public would want to see displayed publicly for years to come," NASA spokesman Michael Curie said.

    The agency is going to be taking applications from those interested until March 17, 2009.

    It will look at all of the applicants and base its decision on who has the ability to actually display the space shuttle, have the funds for the upkeep, and so on.

    The owners will need to stump up an estimated 42 million U.S. dollars in decommissioning and delivery charges for a shuttle.

    (Agencies)