Will a solid rocket booster fit in my shopping cart?

Nearly forty years after its inception in 1972, NASA's space shuttle program is finally ending this year. That leaves the question of what to do with the million or so items of inventory that have accumulated over those decades. In today's web-enabled world, what else to do but put it all on line, eBay style?

Well, actually they're not putting everything online, or even close to it, at least not yet. And it's not open to the public, and you don't exactly bid on items. But, if you have a login, you can put requests for items in your shopping cart and if NASA selects you and you can defray the transportation costs, the item is yours.

If the item in question is an actual space shuttle, transportation costs will come to about $30 million. So far there are 20 or so applicants. Get while the gettin's good.