Houston, we don’t have a problem.
Instead of working to settle our stock market our Senators are working hard to bring one of the Space Shuttles to Houston. It’s not like we miss it, because we really don’t and it may not be all you think it might be. Houston failed in their bid to house a Shuttle back in 2010 when the program ended. From what museum experts tell me, it is a museum piece and the bid had to show how it would attract visitors and how it would be paid for. For Houston, failure was an option. (Ugh) And they failed spectacularly. According to the Houston Chronicle:
One went to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, another went to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Space Shuttle Discovery went to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Virginia.
Another, the Enterprise, went to New York and was put on the Intrepid aircraft carrier. The Enterprise never flew. It was used only for gliding and landing tests. It had no engines. You can view it on the carrier (above), walk underneath it, and observe it from a platform. Like the other shuttles you can’t touch it. You can’t walk in it. You can’t look into the cockpit. It is all hands off. But….Space Center Houston received the Woody.
The Woody is a replica of the Shuttle and was housed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was moved here after Kennedy’s winning bid to secure a Shuttle. Woody sits on top of a 747 at Space Center Houston and is actually a very interesting exhibit. You can walk through the bay, look into the cockpit, and actually touch it unlike the other ones.
Sure it would be great to have a real Shuttle but at what cost? Who will pay to move it to Houston and mount it on the 747? Is that even possible? It would have to be removed from the Smithsonian, moved to an airport, mounted on a modified 747, flown to Houston, removed from the 747, moved to Space Center Houston, and then mounted on the 747. The Woody would have to be removed and either dismantled or moved to another location. It ain’t going to happen.
Cornyn was in office in 2010. He should have paid more attention to the bidding process so Houston could have secured a Shuttle.
Discover more from Bay Area Houston
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Bay Area Houston 
All excellent points. This idea is Cornyn using $85 million tax dollars in his campaign against Paxton, this is a way to shine up his tarnished resume for the Primary. After the Primary, no matter who wins, this idea will be forgotten.
It would take far more than $85 million to make this happen, the only way to get the Discovery here would be to move it and barge it here. One problem is that the US Government signed Discovery over to the Smithsonian, the US Government does not own it any more.
Also it would be an enormous crime to mount Discovery on top of the 747 – it would be out in the weather OR we would spend additional millions to put a building over the entire set up. So could Houston have both the plywood Shuttle (which is pretty cool) and Discovery??