Hidden inside the Big Ugly Bill is $85 million to move the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center to the Houston Space Center. $5 million to move it and $80 million for a new building to house it. This was the brainchild of Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. The Smithsonian thinks that this will actually cost $300 million to $400 million, and it will damage the shuttle in the process.
Space Shuttle Discovery at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Here's the kicker. Houston already has the modified 747 used to carry the shuttle piggyback from launch and landing sites, as well as a full scale mockup that people can walk through, on top of it.
747 mod and shuttle mockup in Houston.
It's called pork barrel politics. The original $85 million is already a waste of money and if the Smithsonian is correct, it's just the start. Why do they need another shuttle? They already have the 747. There's only one of them and Houston has it.
The 747 transport in flight with the Endeavor.
How did this get in the Big Ugly Bill and not get stripped out by the parlimentarian because it has nothing to do with the budget? Well, the provision was deliberately written in vague language to get around that requirement. Cruz and Cornyn wrote that it would transfer a "space vehicle" to a NASA center "involved in the administration of the Commercial Crew Program" and placed on public exhibition at an entity within the Metropolitan Statistical area where such center is located." Cruz and Cornyn introduced their effort in April with their "Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act." It never went any further. They just snuck it into the Big Ugly Bill. They want the Discovery, the most flown spacecraft in history with 39 missions between 1984 and 2011.
In 2010, NASA chose the locations for the 4 existing shuttles to be exhibited after the Space Shuttle program ended. None of the four winning sites was Houston. This angered Cruz and Cornyn and most of the 16 Texas Representatives. Now, they've got their wish.
The bill specifies the shuttle to be moved by Jan. 4, 2027, but not how it is to be moved. In 2012, preparation and delivery of each vehicle was $28.8 million, not including the ground transportation. It would be more now, especially getting the Discovery out of the Smithsonian.
When Cornyn heard about the Smithsonian's more realistic estimate of $300 to $400 million for the project, his spokesperson said the cost estimate was "purposefully overblown," and countered that "an outside vendor skilled at moving military equipment like tanks, military aircraft larger than a space shuttle, and the shuttle mock-up has estimated the move will cost between $5-8 million." That cost included putting it on a barge and going through the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico to get it to Houston.
John Grunsfeld, a veteran of five shuttle flights, said in an email to The Washington Post, "I'm not even sure how this could be accomplished."
Discovery's voyage to the Smithsonian in 2012 was rather simple compared with the journeys of the other shuttles, in part due to the proximity to Dulles International Airport. In Los Angeles, 400 trees were cut down to clear a path for the last leg of Endeavor's trip to the California Science Center.
Garrett Reisman, a Discovery astronaut said, "I'm not even sure how they would go about transferring it all the way to Houston without that airplane," meaning the modified 747 already at the Houston Space Center. Reisman called the project "ludicrous and unnecessary."
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine spotted the provision in the bill and unsuccessfully tried to remove it. "What kind of message does it send to the American people when Republicans cut Medicaid and nutrition assistance funding that people rely on, while simultaneously authorizing $85 million in taxpayer dollars to move a space shuttle halfway across the country. This ridiculous transfer would make Americans pay a $30 fee to view a shuttle that they can see for free right now in Chantilly (Virginia)," said Sen. Kaine. This viewing fee hasn't been mentioned in any reports about the project before. That puts even more bad light on the pork barrel provision and theft of the Discovery.
Discovery at the Smithsonian.
"I would much rather see that money invested in NASA's science program," Garrett Reisman also said, especially given how sharply the White House wants to cut the agency's research funding. "If you're going to cut that, then cough up hundreds of millions of dollars into this, which is essentially a political mission --- two senators who are only concerned for what's best for their state, and not for what's best for the country --- I just find that a travesty."
NASA called the Discovery the "vehicle of record," and was kept more intact than Atlantis and Endeavor, for the purpose of serving as an engineering example at the Smithsonian. That will all be lost in the transfer to Houston. The "intactness" of the shuttle has to be changed for the trip, as evidenced by the $28.8 million in preparation costs the first time around.
The Smithsonian put out a statement that read, "Collecting and preserving artifacts like the Space Shuttle Discovery is part of the National Air and Space Museum's Mission and core function as a research facility and a repository of the national Air and Space collection. The Smithsonian owns the Discovery and holds it in trust for the American people. In 2012, NASA transferred 'all rights, title, interest and ownership' of the shuttle to the Smithsonian." The statement added that all access and research using the Discovery and all their other artifacts were at no cost to the public or researchers.
Discovery does have a significant history. It launched the Hubble telescope and helped build the International Space Station. There is no logical reason for the shuttle to be moved to Houston.
It doesn't matter whether the $85 million appropriated is adequate for the move and the building of a home for the Discovery in Houston. It's just a stupid and bad move because Texas Senators and Representatives felt slighted by the original choice of the shuttles' locations. People can walk through the mock-up on top of the 747 in Houston. You can't do that with the Discovery. You can only view the cabin, the payload bay and other features from the outside.
This is all about Ted Cruz and you now have another reason to hate him.
XML/HTML of the Big Beautiful Bill 870 pages
PDF of the Big Beautiful Bill.
The Big Ugly Bill just got a bit more uglier. This provision was known before its passage but wasn't stopped. There's probably a lot more we don't know about. The Smithsonian owns the Discovery, so there could be action to stop this theft. That's if the Smithsonian Board of Regents, already hijacked by Trump, doesn't just let it happen.
Houston, we have a problem.
