Chicago has added one more heartbreak to its list of losses. Think 2016 Olympics and the 2022 World Cup.

On the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle flight Tuesday, NASA announced Chicago’s Adler Planetarium won’t receive one of the four retiring space shuttles.

Now for the consolation prize that gives space buffs and NASA aficionados something to look forward to. The Adler will soon be home to a space flight simulator used to train every shuttle astronaut who has traveled to space, Adler Planetarium President Paul Knappenberger announced Tuesday.

Though it wasn’t the prize the planetarium had its eye on, Knappenberger said it’s the “next best thing.”

Knappenberger said the Adler is currently negotiating with NASA engineers to keep the three-story flight simulator operational.

The hope is to make the simulator as accessible as possible for visitors, giving them an opportunity to walk through the coveted piece of space history.

“This is as close as you can come” to being in a real space mission, said Adler Planetarium Master Educator Michelle Nichols.

According to Knappenberger, the simulator will be disassembled at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston after the Atlantis’ last flight this June — the final shuttle flight. It will be transported to Chicago to eventually star in the Adler’s upcoming exhibition on space travel.

The Adler still hopes to move forward with building a space exploration center, according to Knappenberger. A budget has not been established, but the Adler intends to use the parking lot south of the planetarium for any new construction.

The Atlantis will go to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Endeavor will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles, the Discovery will go to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Enterprise — a space shuttle prototype that never actually flew in space — will go to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.