Texas annoyed at NASA over where retired shuttles will go.

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SpecialKO

SpecialKO

They must be worried about getting it back after Texas tries to secede.

EDIT: How did my auto-correct change "secede" to halfway between it and "succeed"?
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

Isn't the Aircraft Carrier Museum in NY open air? I don't think that will be a good place to retire such a delicate vehicle.

Then think that the Shuttle was designed in the Houston area, and controlled from the Houston area, it would make sense that one would be kept here.
 
SpecialKO

SpecialKO

sixpackshaker said:
Isn't the Aircraft Carrier Museum in NY open air?
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The Intrepid museum is actually 4 decks, only one of which (the Flight Deck) is open air, plus the submarine and assorted side buildings. I'm assuming they'll put the Enterprise in the Hangar Deck.

I have to admit, it does seem strange that NYC would get it first.
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

Isn't the Hangar open to the air? or did NYC seal it off and AC the place?

I'd also think the shuttle would be a little large for the hangar. I guess it is nothing a good rip-saw can't fix.
 
SpecialKO

SpecialKO

sixpackshaker said:
Isn't the Hangar open to the air? or did NYC seal it off and AC the place?
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Pretty much.

I'd also think the shuttle would be a little large for the hangar. I guess it is nothing a good rip-saw can't fix.
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Make no mistake, they would have to re-arrange things, but they can probably fit it. But you're right, if they can't, I'd rather they not keep it on the Flight Deck and just let Houston have it (which they probably should anyways).
 
strawman

strawman

You've given your kid many of the best bits of space history, then your kid complains when you select to give someone else a rather big piece of history.

Go go gadget temper tantrum!
 
Dei

Dei

That's kind of the point though. You spend all this time with your kid, then you give some other kid one of the greatest momentos of the time you spent together.
 
Covar

Covar

I would have thought they would keep them in Houston and Cape Canaveral. Silly me, that would make sense.
 
strawman

strawman

sixpackshaker said:
L.A. does not make much sense
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Edwards Air Force Base in Los Angeles County landed over 50 (nearly half) of all shuttle flights. Kennedy space center in Florida landed the rest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_shuttle_landing_runways

The shuttles have always launched from the Kennedy space center, though originally the vandenberg air force site in california was to be a second launch site, they never launched a shuttle from it. So Florida gets one because it's launched all missions, and landed over half of them. California gets one because they landed nearly half the shuttle missions, and had a facility for launching until it was mothballed. Smithsonian gets one because it's the smithsonian.

Whether it's more important to have the Enterprise (the only one that never made it to space) in NY or TX is not a huge deal. The reason it's going to New York is most likely because as many people as might see it in TX, it will be seen by and affect vastly more people in NY.
 
Necronic

Necronic

Staff member
Huh, must have missed the part where Johnson Space Center didn't hold the Mission Control and wasn't one of the 2 most important locations in the NASA framework. Clearly NY has made a much more significant contribution to the story of NASA with their single research facility that is roughly the size of a single brownstone.

....

Seriously though, not cool. Houston and Florida are the 2 most important locations in NASA, with the JPL in Cali being a close 3rd. I understand that a couple of these should go to museums, but from what I can tell they sent 3 of them to museums, 2 of them in places that have only slight contributions to the NASA program (NY and Virginia).

3 of these should have gone to the 3 places that contributed the most, Florida, California, and Texas.
 
C

Chibibar

According to the NASA people I talk with (We bring student for the CAS program that NASA sponsor each year) Texas government body and Houston government body didn't fight hard enough to have shuttle in Houston. According to the people I talk with, the officials doesn't really care much for NASA in Houston at all :(

edit: I know it defies the article, but that is what I was told. We were pretty shocked on why Houston doesn't get one :(
 
SpecialKO

SpecialKO

That might explain a great deal, especially given, on the flip side, how much the NYC government throws its weight behind the Intrepid (one of the biggest tourist attractions).

Interestingly enough, while it has nothing to do with New York, the Intrepid itself was apparently the rescue ship for several splash-down recoveries. Doesn't compare to Houston's contributions, obviously, but I didn't know that before.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

SpecialKO said:
That might explain a great deal, especially given, on the flip side, how much the NYC government throws its weight behind the Intrepid (one of the biggest tourist attractions).

Interestingly enough, while it has nothing to do with New York, the Intrepid itself was apparently the rescue ship for several splash-down recoveries. Doesn't compare to Houston's contributions, obviously, but I didn't know that before.
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It was also slated to be the namesake for a new space shuttle before those plans were scuttled by budget problems. I think the idea was to retire one of the shuttles at that point and have the new Intrepid take it's place. I'm almost certain it was going to be Columbia that was going to be replaced too...
 
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