On Tuesday, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced the destinations of the three retiring space shuttles, and Houston wasn’t picked to be home to any of them.
Houston has been an integral part of NASA and the decision does seem to be a low blow to the Space City.
Since 1961, Houston has been home to Johnson Space Center which was originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center. It was renamed the Johnson Space Center in 1973 in honor of President Lyndon B. Johnson.
The importance of the JSC in relation to all of what NASA has accomplished is nothing sort of amazing.
For more than five decades the JSC has been the center for mission control, as well as the training center for all American astronauts.
Many of the most famous astronauts and NASA employees still call Houston home. For them, this decision will likely feel like a severe slight.
The orbiter fleet of Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor will end up in Washington D.C., Cape Canaveral, Fla. and Los Angeles.
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space museum in D.C. will receive the space shuttle Discovery. Endeavor will be displayed at the California Science Center and Atlantis will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, home of the shuttle launches.
As Discovery moves into the Smithsonian, the Enterprise, a glider that never flew in space and is currently on display, will be sent to New York City’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
The decisions on where the shuttles end up have upset some lawmakers so much that they are requesting reviews of the decision making process from the Government Accountability Office.
Whether it was due to political favors or something else, Houston should have definitely been home to one of the orbiters. The JSC would have made a perfect resting place for part of our nation’s space history.
