NASA chose a still -called space shuttle to relocate to Houston, conceding to a long -term offer of Texas Senators to house one of the iconic vehicles. If the selected vehicle is a discovery – which is probably – the Smithsonian, who hosts the vehicle may fight.
The Trump administration included the transfer of the ferry in the budget reconciliation bill, signed it into law on 4 July and canceled $ 85 million for the movement and building a new facility in Houston. At the time, Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn had their eyes on Space Shuttle Discovery, which was exhibited at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Virginia since 2012.
This week, NASA spokesman stated that the agency’s acting administrator, Sean Duffy, identified one of the retired shuttles to be shown in Space Center Houston, without revealing who according to collects space. It is unclear why the ferry’s identity is retained or if NASA received Smithsonian’s approval to transfer discovery.
“There is no better place for one of NASA’s space shuttle is shown than Space City, and I thank you acting administrator Duffy for straightening the Obama government’s mistake and is looking forward to welcoming this iconic orbiter to his right home,” Cornyn wrote in Statement.
Cruz and Cornyn first introduced the Discovery Relocation Act in April, calling NASA and the Smithsonian to develop a plan to relocate discovery. It provided no less than $ 5 million to relocate the ferry to its new home, with the remaining $ 80 million allocated for the construction of a new exhibition facility in Space Center Houston. The Smithsonian, on the other hand, argues that it would Cost somewhere between $ 300 and $ 400 million to move the mass spacecraft across the country. It is also concerned that the ferry may be damaged during the trip to Texas.
In order for discovery to be transferred, NASA requires the Blessing of Smithsonian, as the institution has acquired the agency’s ferry and is now considered its owner. In response to the Senators’ offer to relocate discovery, the Smithsonian reaffirmed his possession of the ferry in a Statement That read, “NASA delivered” all the rights, title, interest and possession “from the ferry to Smithsonian.” The ferry is “part of the mission and core function of the National Air and Space Museum as a research facility and the depot of the national collection air and space,” according to the statement.
Three other shuttle are also displayed in various parts of the country: Enterprise is at the Brave Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York; Atlantis is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida; And Endeavor is currently set up for an exhibition at the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Los -English.
Considering the long history of the state with the shuttle program, Texas of course feels abandoned. The city of Houston especially. While all the Space Shuttle launches took place from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, more than 100 missions were managed from the control room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. After the shuttle program ended in 2011, NASA chose museums across the country to showcase its iconic spacecraft. The agency’s process was highly criticized, especially by Texas lawmakers, who called it the “Houston naval ship.”
Fourteen years later, Texans still act for that ferry. The bill does not specify which of the retired vehicles would move to Houston Space Center, only that it flew to space and carried astronauts to orbit (ie it is a real ferry and not some mockery). Although NASA still owns Atlantis, the focus seems to be on discovery. “We continue to work on the basis that the ferry identified is a discovery and continues our preparations for its arrival and providing it a world -famous home,” Keesha Bullock, chief communication and marketing officer at Houston Space Center, said in a statement, according to Coltspace.
Will the Smithsonian give up his ferry still for debate.
