{"id":105136,"date":"2025-12-30T17:44:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T17:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/105136\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T17:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T17:44:09","slug":"nasas-new-chief-finds-loophole-for-texas-shuttle-switcheroo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/105136\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s New Chief Finds Loophole for Texas Shuttle Switcheroo"},"content":{"rendered":"

For months, Texas senators have made a controversial push to move NASA\u2019s iconic Space Shuttle Discovery<\/a> from the Smithsonian to Houston\u2019s Johnson Space Center, a risky effort that could cost up to $150 million.<\/p>\n

Like any NASA leader worth his salt, newly-confirmed<\/a> Administrator Jared Isaacman has come up with a contingency plan.<\/p>\n

In an interview with CNBC on December 23, Isaacman said<\/a> relocating Discovery would depend on whether it could be done without damaging the space shuttle and within budget. If not, he suggested sending Houston a different spacecraft, such as an Orion capsule<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can\u2019t do that, you know what, we have spacecraft going around the Moon with Artemis 2, 3, 4 and 5,\u201d Isaacman said. \u201cOne way or another, we\u2019re going to make sure Johnson Space Center gets its historic spacecraft right where it belongs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Houston\u2019s fight for a space shuttle <\/p>\n

In April, Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced<\/a> legislation to \u201cbring Discovery home to Texas.\u201d The core provisions of that bill were ultimately included in H.R. 1, the budget reconciliation bill signed<\/a> into law on July 4.<\/p>\n

Unlike Cornyn and Cruz\u2019s original bill, these provisions do not specifically name Discovery or Johnson Space Center. Rather, H.R. 1 includes $85 million for a \u201cspace vehicle transfer\u201d of a crewed spacecraft to a NASA center involved in the agency\u2019s commercial crew program and directs NASA to select a spacecraft to be transferred within 30 days of enactment.<\/p>\n

The bill also states that the selected vehicle must have flown to space, carried astronauts, and must be selected with the approval of a third party chosen by the NASA administrator. Discovery, the most-flown shuttle during its 27 years in operation, fits that bill, but it\u2019s not the only option.<\/p>\n

In August, NASA said then-Acting Administrator Sean Duffy selected<\/a> a vehicle, but the agency declined to say which one. Sen. Cornyn\u2019s office later claimed<\/a> the choice was a retired space shuttle bound for Johnson Space Center\u2014without specifying which shuttle.<\/p>\n

Despite the uncertainty, the very prospect of moving Discovery from its home at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Air and Space Museum has spurred efforts to block the transfer. Senate Democrats<\/a>, grassroots organizers<\/a>, and the Smithsonian<\/a>\u2014which technically owns Discovery\u2014have all voiced concerns about the costly and risky disassembly the move would require.<\/p>\n

Discovery drama <\/p>\n

In a letter addressed to the relevant Congressional committees in early October, the Smithsonian said both the museum and NASA agree that Discovery will have to undergo \u201csignificant disassembly\u201d to be moved, risking the destruction of the historic vehicle.<\/p>\n

The letter also estimated that the minimal cost to move Discovery is in the range of $120 million to $150 million, not including the cost of building a new facility to house the shuttle in Houston.<\/p>\n

Cornyn and Cruz disputed those claims, going so far as to call for<\/a> a Department of Justice investigation into the Smithsonian\u2019s \u201cillegal lobbying\u201d against Discovery\u2019s move. The DOJ has yet to launch any such investigation.<\/p>\n

Whether NASA and the Smithsonian move forward with Discovery\u2019s transfer remains to be seen, but a decision to give Houston an Orion capsule would likely be a much easier\u2014and cheaper\u2014alternative. Those spacecraft are significantly smaller than the space shuttles and can be transported<\/a> by truck.<\/p>\n

With Isaacman taking the helm of NASA in the midst of this space shuttle saga, it\u2019s clear he wants to find a solution that will appease both the powerful senators and the spaceflight community. In the interview, he stressed that preserving Discovery and conserving NASA\u2019s budget are his top priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job now is to make sure we can undertake such a transportation within the budget dollars we have available and, of course, most importantly, ensuring the safety of the vehicle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For months, Texas senators have made a controversial push to move NASA\u2019s iconic Space Shuttle Discovery from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[47352,1911,16052,47354,27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-105136","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-jared-isaacman","9":"tag-nasa","10":"tag-smithsonian","11":"tag-space-shuttle","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-texas-headlines","14":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}