The plan to move a shuttle, notably an unnamed shuttle, was part of President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" passed this summer.
8.10.2025
A battle is heating up over a possible relocation.
The Space Shuttle Discovery pictured at the 6th meeting of the National Space Council on "Leading the Next Frontier" at the National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, August 20, 2019 in Chantilly, Virginia. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Within the next 18 months, the space shuttle Discovery may be disassembled in Washington D.C., transported more than 1,000 miles to Houston and reassembled. But not if grassroots group Keep The Shuttle has anything to say about it.
The Smithsonian and others have dug in against the move, saying the research institute actually owns the Discovery in a trust for the American people, nothing that it’s unclear if Congress even has the authority to order the Smithsonian transfer an artifact.
Even still, according to a letter from the Smithsonian to Congress, the institute has been asked to work with NASA to prepare to move the space shuttle to Houston and verify actual costs associated with the move.
"While an engineering study will be necessary due to the size and weight of the space vehicle, both NASA and the Smithsonian believe that Discovery will have to undergo significant disassembly to be moved," according to a letter from the Smithsonian to Congress. "Discovery is the most intact shuttle orbiter of the NASA program, and we remain concerned that disassembling the vehicle will destroy its historical value.”
Keep The Shuttle organizer Joe Stief said the disassembling likely would damage the shuttle's thermal protection system and other components.
However, a spokesperson for Texas Sen. John Cornyn in a statement said that the Smithsonian is grasping at straws in this argument.
"The fact is that all four shuttles have moved across the country without disassembly on more than one occasion," the statement said. "Discovery belongs in Houston, and will make the journey there safely, securely, and efficiently in accordance with the law whether the woke Smithsonian and its cronies in Congress like it or not.”
Even still, the letter said that NASA and Smithsonian agree that the minimal cost to move the shuttle ranges from $120 million to $150 million—much higher than the $85 million previously authorized by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
"We remain concerned about the unprecedented nature of a removal of an object from the national collection, and that we would be causing damage to the most intact orbiter from the space shuttle program," the letter continued, noting that keeping Discovery at the Smithsonian allows scholars and the public to appreciate Americans' journey to space and lay the groundwork to return to the Moon and visit Mars.
Stief and his organization said they plan to continue to work with "allies in Congress" to block funding for the mission. Blocking the shuttle's movement could also come from legal challenges, which Stief said his organization is prepared to amplify, or a stop by one of the number of local government bodies the shuttle would have to pass through to get to Houston.
"The tow and barge would be logistically complex, as evidenced by the 12 mile tow of Endeavour through LA in 2012," Stief said. "We have already worked with the principal local government, Fairfax County, to publicly oppose the relocation, and with their continued resistance towing Discovery to the Potomac would be practically impossible."
Quelle: CHRON
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