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Demand for Shuttle Merchandise Leads to Record-Breaking Sales for Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

Kennedy Space Center, Fla. (August 5, 2011) – Thousands of people who gathered at Kennedy Space Center to watch Atlantis’ final flight, and thousands more who watched the Space Shuttle mission from their homes all over the world, turned to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s Space Shop to commemorate the historic event. The final launch brought Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center its largest retail revenue day ever.
 
Atlantis launched from Kennedy Space Center July 8 and returned July 21. During launch week, the visitor complex sold over 26,000 T-shirts, 8,000 mission patches and 6,000 lapel pins. Astronaut ice cream was also a big hit with space enthusiasts as 6,000 packages of the freeze dried treat were sold during launch week.
 
The STS 135 Atlantis: The Grand Finale Official Launch Program has been another popular item that has nearly sold out. A new mission program called “The Retrospective” will feature the final launches of the last three orbiters. This program will be available in September.
 
Sales have also been strong on the visitor complex’s e-commerce site, http://www.thespaceshop.com/, with orders coming in from as far as Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia. America’s Pride, a unique T-shirt displaying all five orbiters and the missions that each has flown, has been a popular item with many shuttle program workers.  Other top-selling items have included the Space Shuttle Atlantis Fullstack Model, the Space Shuttle Official Crew Photo, the Atlantis Mission Silver Coin, the Space Shuttle Atlantis Pin and the Atlantis “I Was There” T-Shirt.