At a time when NASA is facing catastrophic budget cuts, Texas senators are promoting an ambitious and costly plan: to transport the legendary Discovery space shuttle to Houston. This controversial issue is included in a large-scale tax and spending bill that has recently been approved by the US Senate.
The initiative, called Bring the Space Shuttle Home, proposed by Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, provides for the allocation of $85 million to transport the space shuttle from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Virginia to the Space Center in Houston, as well as the construction of a new facility to house it.
Money gap and risks
However, the Smithsonian Institution strongly disagrees. The museum claims that the actual cost of transporting the giant spacecraft across the country will reach an astronomical $300-400 million. In addition, experts have expressed serious concerns about the safety of this unique exhibit. The process of dismantling, transporting, and reassembling is extremely complex and carries a high risk of damage to the historical artifact.
A living legend of cosmonautics
Space Shuttle Discovery is a true veteran. Its first flight took place in 1984. Over 27 years of service, it completed 39 missions. Discovery was the first to return to space after the Challenger (1988) and Columbia (2005) tragedies, restoring faith in the program. It launched the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit in 1990 and played a key role in the construction of the International Space Station. For the past 13 years, it has been the main exhibition attraction at the Smithsonian Museum.
Why Houston?
The Houston Space Center is the official visitor center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where the mission control center for all shuttle missions was located. Despite this, after the program ended in 2011, Houston did not receive a single shuttle for public display. The spacecraft were distributed among the Smithsonian Institution (Virginia), the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (New York), the Kennedy Space Center (Florida), and the Samuel Johnson Center (Los Angeles). Texans consider this a historical injustice.
Doubts of the past
Even in 2011, the museum selection process caused outrage in Texas. Sixteen members of the state delegation accused NASA of neglecting Houston. NASA’s Office of Inspector General conducted an investigation but found no violations or political influence on the decision.
Whether Discovery will become a new symbol of Houston remains a question of money, political will, and the safety of this historical relic.
Earlier, we shared some interesting facts about space shuttles.
According to ffxnow.com
