Houston Wants Retired Shuttle Orbiter

[philip964]

We are the wrong color state. I suspect Houston will get shut out, unless the Smithsonian gives us the Enterprise.

A friend reminded me that the Space Shuttle Columbia is in Texas in a locked hangar at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth.
The Columbia broke apart above the skys above Texas in 2003 upon reentry.

So we still have one shuttle in Texas.

[i8godzilla]

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Another criterion for winning was that the city have a historical connection to the space program.

Houston obviously has that, so Dominguez had to explain that facilities outside L.A. helped design and build space shuttles, and the USS Intrepid in New York, where a shuttle will be displayed, worked as a recovery ship for Mercury and Gemini capsules.

I still think it is a bit of a stretch to claim NY had any real connection to the space program.

[The Annoyed Man]

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Another criterion for winning was that the city have a historical connection to the space program.

Houston obviously has that, so Dominguez had to explain that facilities outside L.A. helped design and build space shuttles, and the USS Intrepid in New York, where a shuttle will be displayed, worked as a recovery ship for Mercury and Gemini capsules.

I still think it is a bit of a stretch to claim NY had any real connection to the space program.

It is a particular stretch that the Intrepid's role in Mercury/Gemini recovery over 40 years ago somehow transcends Houston's role as Shuttle Mission Control on every single shuttle mission. This is nothing more than political payback and patronage in action.

[b322da]

...This is nothing more than political payback and patronage in action.

TAM and I agree on something!

Elmo

[tacticool]

Chicago politics in action.

[Skiprr]

It is a particular stretch that the Intrepid's role in Mercury/Gemini recovery over 40 years ago somehow transcends Houston's role as Shuttle Mission Control on every single shuttle mission. This is nothing more than political payback and patronage in action.

And I wonder what the outcome would have been had someone stipulated a criterion be the number of jobs lost due to the retirement of the space shuttle program.

There should have been three sites in the running for a retired orbiter. Houston should have been a given.

[Shasta]

I am still angry over this. Like spitting nails kind of angry.

There's absolutely no rationale for putting 3 orbiters on the east coast, two of them closer than Houston is to Dallas. Huge parts of the country will not be within 1000-1500 miles of the closest orbiter.

There is no other city as closely connected to the Shuttle program, not to mention that (I believe) all of the immediate families of the Challenger and Columbia victims still call Houston home.

as I said, spitting nails.

[Skiprr]

As I said, spitting nails.

Well, if you haven't seen this, get ready to start spittin' bales of razor wire (http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=8075782" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;):

When people from Paris, Beijing, Tokyo and Amsterdam start saying they want to go to Houston, maybe then they'll get a shuttle. I'd say to Texas, don't mess with New York.

This was in response to a House bill being introduced that would remove Space Shuttle Enterprise from New York.

The Honorable Ted Poe had a response for Mr. Schumer:

Whether Senator Schumer likes it or not, the Big Apple had nothing to do with NASA or the space shuttle program until Tuesday.

You go, Ted.

[The Annoyed Man]

...This is nothing more than political payback and patronage in action.

TAM and I agree on something!

Elmo

Elmo, I KNEW we'd get there someday!

[The Annoyed Man]

As I said, spitting nails.

Well, if you haven't seen this, get ready to start spittin' bales of razor wire (http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=8075782" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;): ...

Quoting your article:

The lawmakers also threaten to do everything in their power to prevent any taxpayer funding of the transfer of Enterprise to New York City, calling it "a wasteful decision." Legislators are still waiting a response from Bolden or NASA.

The Texas delegation in the House is now—particularly with redistricting coming up—about to be one of the largest in Congress. Maybe our delegation could drop a hint NASA way: "Hose us, and you'll never get us to vote for your funding again."

And Schumer is a thug.

[WildBill]

BTW, NASA/JSC has two full-scale Space Shuttle mock-ups that are used for astronaut crew training. One of them is used in underwater training [to simulate zero gravity] at the Sonny Carter Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. This pool is amazing. Also, in the pool there is a full scale model of the ISS Space Station. The other is on-site at Johnson Space Center. Maybe Houston will be allowed to keep these.

[b322da]

..The Texas delegation in the House is now—particularly with redistricting coming up—about to be one of the largest in Congress. Maybe our delegation could drop a hint NASA way: "Hose us, and you'll never get us to vote for your funding again...."

I hate to say this TAM, now that we agree on something, but we just may be watching the end of NASA as a space agency, live and in color. Paying the Russians to take our astronauts to the space station; paying them to put up one of our satellites; privatizing our space program; both the Russians and the Chinese considering setting up a moon base....

That will be when we can say for sure, "We have a problem, Houston."

Elmo

[Skiprr]

The Texas delegation in the House is now—particularly with redistricting coming up—about to be one of the largest in Congress. Maybe our delegation could drop a hint NASA way: "Hose us, and you'll never get us to vote for your funding again."

But that’s what’s so disgusting. It wasn’t NASA’s fault. NASA never had a say in it.

It was a sole decision by Charles Bolden. Bolden is a Houstonian and a former astronaut, but he is a staunch democrat and was appointed by the Obama administration.

His decision did not represent NASA and the people who work at the agency. It represented Bolden’s desire to remain in the good graces of the Obama administration.

...And Schumer is a thug.

[WildBill]

..The Texas delegation in the House is now—particularly with redistricting coming up—about to be one of the largest in Congress. Maybe our delegation could drop a hint NASA way: "Hose us, and you'll never get us to vote for your funding again...."

I hate to say this TAM, now that we agree on something, but we just may be watching the end of NASA as a space agency, live and in color. Paying the Russians to take our astronauts to the space station; paying them to put up one of our satellites; privatizing our space program; both the Russians and the Chinese considering setting up a moon base....

That will be when we can say for sure, "We have a problem, Houston."

Elmo

Paying the Russians to shuttle our astronauts is an affront to everything that we stand for. IMO, it may take the Chinese setting up a moon base to get our space program off it's rear end.

[Shasta]

When people from Paris, Beijing, Tokyo and Amsterdam start saying they want to go to Houston, maybe then they'll get a shuttle. I'd say to Texas, don't mess with New York.

This was in response to a House bill being introduced that would remove Space Shuttle Enterprise from New York.

The Honorable Ted Poe had a response for Mr. Schumer:

Whether Senator Schumer likes it or not, the Big Apple had nothing to do with NASA or the space shuttle program until Tuesday.

You go, Ted.

I would advise Congressman Schumer that I have worked on patients from all of those cities, indeed from around the globe in the Texas Medical Center. There's absolutely no way that two of those orbiters should be in such close proximity. Is he really arrogant enough to think that only the coasts have international visitors? Should international tourism come before the interests of the taxpayers who footed the bill in the first place?

BTW, NASA/JSC has two full-scale Space Shuttle mock-ups that are used for astronaut crew training. One of them is used in underwater training [to simulate zero gravity] at the Sonny Carter Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. This pool is amazing. Also, in the pool there is a full scale model of the ISS Space Station. The other is on-site at Johnson Space Center. Maybe Houston will be allowed to keep these.

No such luck. One of the flight simulators goes to Chicago, because obviously, Chicago also met NASA's criteria (blue state or swing state) better than JSC. My understanding is that most of the artifacts will be gutted, and we'll get a couple of bucket seats.

For true perspective on the city most closely associated with the shuttle program, remember that the presidents came to Houston, and not Chicago, LA, NYC, or even Cape Canaveral for official memorial services for both the Challenger and Columbia crews.