Bid to relocate space shuttle Discovery faces museum pushback
Tucked inside President
Donald Trump
's flagship tax and spending bill last month was a little-noticed provision to relocate the iconic Space Shuttle Discovery from a museum outside Washington DC to
Houston
.
The plan now faces legal uncertainty, with the Smithsonian Institution arguing Congress had no authority to give away what it considers private property -- even before accounting for the steep logistical and financial challenges. "The Smithsonian Institution owns the Discovery and holds it in trust for the American public," the museum network, which receives substantial federal funding yet remains an independent entity, said in a statement on Friday.
In 2012, Nasa transferred 'all rights, title, interest and ownership' of the shuttle to the Smithsonian.
The push to move Discovery from the Air and Space Museum's site in northern Virginia began in April, when Texas Senator John Cornyn, a Republican who faces a tough primary challenge next year by state attorney Ken Paxton, introduced the 'Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act,' naming Discovery. It stalled until it was folded into the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' signed into law on July 4. Its passage allocated $85 million for the move, though experts say the move would cost at least $325 million.
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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
NASA to build Moon reactor by 2030, outpacing China-Russia lunar ambitions with a 100-kilowatt power system
Source: New York Times / BBC The United States is accelerating its space ambitions with a bold plan to construct a nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030, according to the reports. This move, championed by Transportation Secretary and interim NASA chief Sean Duffy, signals a significant shift toward energy independence and strategic dominance in lunar exploration. The directive aims to outpace China and Russia's joint lunar base efforts while ensuring sustainable power for future Moon habitats and research facilities. With a 100-kilowatt power system in focus and contracts for ISS replacement on the horizon, this strategy could reshape the future of space exploration and energy innovation. Why the Moon needs a nuclear reactor Solar power, though efficient in low-Earth orbit, is unreliable on the Moon due to two-week-long lunar nights. A nuclear reactor ensures continuous, high-output power for critical systems like habitats, life support, and mining equipment. NASA's earlier 40-kilowatt system design now expands to a 100-kilowatt model, enabling long-term settlements and deep-space missions. Experts note that nuclear power could support resource extraction, like oxygen and water from lunar regolith, which is crucial for producing rocket fuel and sustaining human life far from Earth. This capability would reduce dependency on Earth-based resupply missions, making lunar bases more economically and operationally viable. Space race 2.0: US reacts to China-Russia lunar base plans with a 100-kilowatt power strategy China and Russia's International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) poses a direct challenge to US leadership in space. Their collaboration aims to establish a permanently crewed lunar facility, backed by advanced robotics and resource utilization programs. Duffy's directive reflects a 'space race 2.0' mindset, emphasizing energy independence and infrastructure as strategic levers. Analysts say the nuclear reactor isn't just about science; it's a symbol of geopolitical power projection. By achieving reliable energy on the Moon, the US can support military, scientific, and commercial activities, ensuring it remains ahead in a future where lunar resources could influence global energy and technology markets. The directive significantly upsizes previous NASA designs, calling for a 100-kilowatt fission surface power system capable of running multiple habitats and industrial-scale facilities. The plan involves a 60-day window to gather input from private space and energy companies and appointing a NASA official to spearhead the project. This power scale is intended not only for lunar missions but also to serve as a blueprint for Mars and deep-space exploration. Unlike solar arrays, nuclear reactors can withstand lunar dust, extreme temperatures, and long nights, making them a game-changer for permanent extraterrestrial settlements and advanced resource processing facilities on the Moon. NASA's new vision under Duffy: Hard-power technologies and commercial space growth Sean Duffy's appointment as interim NASA chief, while also serving as Transportation Secretary, sparked debate in Congress. Critics question his ability to manage two high-profile federal roles simultaneously. However, this lunar reactor initiative shows Duffy's intent to leave a strong mark on US space policy, focusing on hard-power technologies rather than purely scientific exploration. His directive aligns with the White House's push for increased crewed spaceflight funding, even while cutting some research programs. 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Mint
3 hours ago
- Mint
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From February through May, the NSF, which supports academic science, terminated more than 1,700 grants, totaling $1.4 billion. 'The American people deserve a scientific enterprise free from political interference," California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the House Science Committee's ranking Democrat, said in an April press release. Jon Freeman, Columbia psychologist and NSF grant recipient, told the New York Times that the cuts will cede 'American leadership in science and technology to China and to other countries." Science magazine reported that 'NSF watchers" feared a proposed restructuring would leave the foundation 'more vulnerable to pressure from the White House to fund research that suits its ideological bent." The claim about ideological bias was rich. The NSF has been supporting ideologically driven projects for years, much of it through its Directorate for STEM Education. The foundation's education grant-making has focused on racial victimhood. 'Learning From Black Intellectualism: Broadening Epistemic Foundations in Engineering Education to Empower Black Students and Faculty," funded in 2023 at nearly $600,000, was typical. According to the project's abstract, the prevailing 'narrative" around black underrepresentation 'preserves Whiteness by passively neglecting the culture of racism in engineering." 'Learning From Black Intellectualism" would 'advance educational justice by countering the epistemic violence within engineering and its sense-making practices." It would use 'fugitive pedagogy" to 'investigate engineering faculty epistemic norms." 'Black intellectualism" would be used to 're-politicize engineering pedagogy." Projects like that obviously don't advance American leadership over China. On May 9, the NSF announced that it was disbanding its most concentrated source of racial grant-making: the Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM, housed within the Directorate for STEM Education. 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His terminated grant—from the directorate's Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences—focused on how 'social inequities such as gender and racial disparities" are shaped by facial and other 'learned stereotypes" about race and sex. It is doubtful that China is attempting to compete in this area. Such was the state of play before the Trump administration's funding request for fiscal 2026: The science establishment was crying bloody murder because the NSF had started cutting some of its most blatantly politicized grants. Enter the 2026 budget, released on May 30. It would reduce funding for research and related activities by 61%, or $5 billion. The NSF's total budget would be cut 55%, or $5.12 billion. But the Education and Social Sciences directorates wouldn't be eliminated. Worse, the Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM within the Education Directorate would be exhumed. 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While the cuts to the Education and Social Science directorates were too timid, cuts to the hard-science directorates were too sweeping. Biological Sciences is down 71.5%. Mathematical and Physical Sciences, which includes chemistry, physics and astronomy, is down 67%. The May 30 budget request reads like a pitch for a tech startup. Its 'prioritized" activities are Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Information Science, and the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships—the last akin to a tech incubator for small businesses. Other favored areas are Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced Wireless, and Microelectronics and Semiconductors, because those fields help 'harness the full power of American innovation by empowering entrepreneurs and unleashing private-sector creativity." It is a mistake to reorient the NSF toward research perceived to be economically useful. The private sector is already charging ahead on high-tech research and applications. It has less incentive to fund curiosity-driven research into the laws of the universe. Other battles are more worthy of attention. Congressional Republicans should provide the White House with an unambiguous charter for its reform efforts. Congress should strip all identity-politics language from NSF budgetary authorizations by rejecting the notion that researchers must justify their work on nonscientific grounds. Lawmakers should also extricate the NSF from teacher training and education research. Congress and the administration could treat scientists like adults again by cutting red tape and restoring discretion to project managers and researchers. The White House has started a long overdue overhaul of science and academia, unleashing end-of-times prophesying from those intertwined establishments. But federal science funding shouldn't go to social or economic goals, 'equity" or any other ideology. 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Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
NASA monitors asteroid 2025 OT7 as it approaches Earth on August 5: Size, speed and flyby distance revealed
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