Sponsor a tile. Support the mission.
Help support educational programs and engaging exhibits by sponsoring a TPS Tile.
Sponsorship levels start at $250.
Choose a section of the Shuttle to get started.
Why Buy a Tile?
Please support the Columbia Memorial Space Center as it creates the future of STEM education by purchasing a virtual Space Shuttle tile.
The Space Center is building a brand new, 30,000 sq.ft. facility to bring innovative, hands-on on science and engineering activities to children and families. This building will also house the first Space Shuttle ever built – the Space Shuttle Inspiration! Inspiration is the full-sized engineering mockup that all of the other Shuttles were based on. In the new building, all members of the public will be able to enter the Shuttle and get a first-hand experience will how space exploration history was made.
Why the Tiles?
The Space Shuttles were the first reusable spacecraft ever made. They were built where the Space Center is located, in the city of Downey, California.
The Space Shuttles were built to withstand the thousands of degrees of heat generated when the spacecraft returned to Earth, land, and then get relaunched again and again. In order to do that, each Shuttle was covered with nearly 30,000 tiles that protected it from the super-hot temperatures on the outside surfaces of the spacecraft.
