Our Space Shuttle plans have been evolving for the last few weeks, with the build date fast approaching. As mentioned previously, we'll be building this massive, 1/3 scale, space shuttle orbiter to kick off the Transplant Games of America in Houston, TX. We’ve been blown away by the organ transplant success stories we've heard, and are excited to help bring more attention to the need for organ and tissue donation. Airigami is all about working with communities, and we’re excited to work directly with the athletes, their families and Houston volunteers. Our goal is to help the athletes reach for the stars with this sculpture.

We haven't just been drawing. We've been putting the plans to the test and making sure all of our calculations work out properly by making small pieces of the shuttle in the studio. With 30,000 Qualatex balloons on order, we want to make sure everything is going to work properly before we get there. 

The build will begin on July 8 at the George R Brown Convention Center and be completed, with final assembly of the sculpture taking place outside of the BBVA Compass Stadium, on July 12. A few people wrote to us last month, after we announced the project, asking about volunteering during the build. We are now ready for people to sign up. As with all Airigami community projects, there are volunteer jobs for people at all levels of ballooning experience, or no experience at all. If you have an interest, we'd love to have you join us. All of the volunteer information can be found on the official registration website. Keep in mind there are lots of places you can help with this event. It's not just the Airigami project you can sign up for.