Ted Cruz's Bid to Reclaim Space Shuttle Discovery Could Cost $400 Million
President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill, which passed the Senate on Tuesday, includes a provision to move the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum in Virginia to Space Center Houston. The Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act was added to the Senate's version of the bill as part of an additional $10 billion in funding for NASA.
The bill sets aside $85 million to relocate the Shuttle and build a facility in Houston to house it, but the Smithsonian argues it would cost somewhere between $300 and $400 million to move the massive spacecraft across the country, according to the Houston Business Journal. The Smithsonian also raised concern that the Shuttle could be damaged during the relocation process given the 'extremely complex and difficult' move.
The Discovery Relocation Act was first introduced by Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn in April, calling on NASA and the Smithsonian to develop a plan to relocate Discovery. It provided no less than $5 million to move the Shuttle to its new home, and the remaining $80 million will go toward building its new display facility at Space Center Houston.
Space Center Houston is the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center, home to mission control for the Space Shuttle program. All launches took place at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but more than 100 Shuttle missions were managed from Houston. Discovery made its inaugural flight on August 30, 1984, and completed a total of 39 missions over the span of 27 years. Discovery was the first Shuttle to return to flight after both the Challenger and Columbia disasters in 1988 and 2005, respectively, leading recovery missions that breathed new life into the iconic program. Discovery also launched the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990 and helped in the assembly of the International Space Station.
For the past 13 years, Discovery has been on display at the Smithsonian. Three other Shuttles are also on display in different parts of the country; Enterprise is at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York; Atlantis is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida; and Endeavor is currently being set up for display at the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Los Angeles. Considering its long history with spaceflight, Houston feels left out and wants a Shuttle of its own.
After the Shuttle program ended in 2011, NASA selected the museums to display the retired spacecraft. NASA called on museums and science centers across the country to apply to host one of the Shuttles, and its selection criteria were based on national significance, ability to properly house the spacecraft, resources, and geographic distribution. Not everyone was happy, and the agency's process was highly scrutinized.
At the time, 16 members of the Texas delegation wrote a letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, referring to the selection process as the 'Houston Shuttle Snub.' However, NASA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed the agency's selection process and found no wrongdoing. 'We found no evidence that the White House, politics, or any other outside force improperly influenced the selection decision,' James Mitzelfeld, OIG investigative counsel, said in a video statement at the time.
The Texans are still not happy, it seems. 'There's no question the Smithsonian is a national treasure, but it doesn't hold all the treasures that America has to show,' Cornyn said during a press conference on June 20, collectSPACE reported. 'It would be nice if there were more to go around, but since there are only four, we are going to get the one that we should have gotten back in 2010.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
US Air Force suspends SpaceX rocket project on Pacific atoll, report says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Air Force has suspended plans it had proposed with Elon Musk's SpaceX to test hypersonic rocket cargo deliveries from a remote Pacific atoll, according to a report this week in Stars and Stripes, an independent publication of the U.S. military. The suspension came after Reuters reported that biologists and experts said the project would harm many seabirds that nest at the wildlife refuge on the Johnston Atoll, an unincorporated U.S. territory nearly 800 miles (1,300 km) southwest of Hawaii. The Air Force had said it would undertake an environmental assessment of the project, but publication of a draft assessment was delayed after opposition to the plan by environmental groups. The Air Force and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Air Force is exploring alternative locations for the program, a spokesperson of the military branch told the Stars and Stripes newspaper in story published on Thursday. The program would use commercial rockets, such as those made by SpaceX, although the Air Force has not announced private partners. It would test landing rocket re-entry vehicles designed to deliver up to 100 tons of cargo to anywhere on Earth within about 90 minutes. The program would be a breakthrough for military logistics by making it easier to move supplies quickly into distant locations. But it could be too much for the island's 14 species of tropical birds to withstand, according to biologists and experts who have worked on the one-square-mile (2.6 square km) atoll, part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. SpaceX's activities have affected protected birds elsewhere. A SpaceX launch of its Starship rocket in Boca Chica, Texas, last year involved a blast that destroyed nests and eggs of plover shorebirds, landing the company of billionaire Musk in legal trouble and leading him to remark jokingly that he would refrain from eating omelets for a week to compensate.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Georgia science museum studying meteorite seen over metro Atlanta
The Brief The Tellus Science Museum has acquired part of the unusual meteor that blasted across the metro Atlanta area last week. Its entry was so intense that it triggered the Geostationary Lightning Mappers (GLM) aboard NOAA's GOES satellites—devices normally used to detect lightning. The outer space rock was the 29th meteorite documented in Georgia and the second time one ever hit a home. CARTERSVILLE, Ga. - A piece of outer space rock that fasciated people across the Southeast last week is now a part of Georgia's Tellus Science Museum's collection. The museum announced that it has acquired the recovered meteorite that shot through the sky on June 26 before part of it landed in Henry County. MORE: Why the daytime fireball meteor that blasted over Atlanta was a rare sight The backstory NASA says the meteor entered Earth's atmosphere at 12:25 p.m. EDT on June 26, first appearing 48 miles above Oxford, Georgia. Traveling southwest at an estimated 30,000 miles per hour, the object disintegrated at an altitude of 27 miles above West Forest, unleashing energy equivalent to about 20 tons of TNT. The breakup produced a powerful pressure wave that reached the ground, creating loud booms and tremors that startled residents. According to NASA, "some large windows may have vibrated or even cracked." The fireball was caused by an asteroidal fragment approximately three feet in diameter and weighing over a ton. Its entry was so intense that it triggered the Geostationary Lightning Mappers (GLM) aboard NOAA's GOES satellites—devices normally used to detect lightning. Doppler radar also picked up falling debris above Henry County. Witnesses across Georgia and neighboring states—including as far south as Macon and as far north as Upstate South Carolina—reported seeing a flash of white light followed by what many described as an "earthquake." However, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed no seismic activity occurred. Officials say the shaking was the result of a sonic boom. Local perspective A resident of Henry County, Georgia, reported a rock coming through their roof around the time they heard the sonic boom from the fireball. It left behind a hole in the ceiling about the size of a golf ball and a crack in a laminate floor at the home southeast of Atlanta, according to the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City, Georgia. "We are presuming that a piece of the object fell through their roof," the weather service said. Dashboard and doorbell cameras across several states in the southeastern U.S. states caught glimpses of the fireball that appeared to be plummeting straight down. What they're saying "We're very fortunate to have this piece," said Amy Gramsey, Tellus' director of curatorial services. "A meteorite hunter found the specimen on Friday, June 27, in Henry County. It's a 150-gram chondrite meteorite—a stony-type meteorite containing small mineral granules." Officials with the Tellus Science Museum say that last Thursday's fall was the 29th meteorite documented in Georgia and the second incident of one hitting a home - the first being in MAy 2009 in Cartersville. "Meteorite landings like this are pretty rare," said Tellus' astronomy program manager Karisa Zdanky. "Space rocks and other debris enter Earth's atmosphere often, but they usually burn up before reaching the ground – which is the requirement to be called a meteorite. It's uncommon to have a meteor so bright and so big that it can be witnessed in the day and produce such sizable meteorite fragments." What's next The new specimen has not been named yet, but Tellus staff are expecting it to be on display for the public by the end of the summer. The Source Information for this story came from previous FOX 5 reporting and a press release by Tellus Science Museum.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nasal COVID Vax Shows Promise in Phase 1 Clinical Trial
CINCINNATI, July 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- During the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists learned that the critical path to infection started with the SARS-CoV-2 virus invading the nasal tissues of its victims, then causing millions of deaths by spreading through the body and robbing the sickest people of their ability to breathe. While the traditional way to administer protection has been to inject vaccines into the bloodstream, many experts called for developing a nasally delivered vaccine as a potentially more-effective approach. Now, encouraging results are in from the first human clinical trial to be conducted in the United States of a nasal COVID vaccine. Findings from the study led by an expert at Cincinnati Children's were published July 4, 2025, in Science Advances. "A single dose of this vaccine (CVXGA) was well tolerated. It generated a wide spectrum of specific immune responses including mucosal and systemic immune responses. Those who received the highest dose of the vaccine showed significantly lower rates of symptomatic COVID-19 infection," says the study's lead author, Paul Spearman, MD, a long-time leader in vaccine research and vice chair for clinical and translational research and education at Cincinnati Children's. The vaccine is made by the Georgia-based company CyanVac LLC, which also funded the clinical trial. Based on the promising data generated from this phase 1 trial, two larger clinical studies involving more people are underway (NCT05736835 and NCT06742281). If these trials also prove successful, the CVXGA vaccine could join four other nasal COVID vaccines approved in other countries: two in China, one in Russia, and another in India. Why is a nasal vaccine needed? While the total number of deaths from COVID has declined far from the peak pandemic years, the virus has not disappeared. In fact, 663 Americans died of COVID in the 28 days ended June 15, 2025. Those deaths (which in one month exceeded the combined deaths of the three deadliest plane crashes since 2022) accounted for 67% of the 987 total deaths worldwide reported to the World Health Organization. India (101 deaths) was the only other nation reporting more than 100 COVID deaths in this timeframe, and its population is more than four times larger than the US. The wealthy Western nation Sweden reported 22 deaths. Since the pandemic began, the virus has mutated several times. This has required adjusting the vaccine and suggests that annual re-vaccination may be needed to prevent another pandemic. A nasal vaccine could prove both more effective medically and more tolerable for young children and adults who may fear needles. "There is a need for improved COVID vaccines that offer more complete and durable protection," Spearman says. "A nasal vaccine has the potential to block SARS-CoV-2 at its mucosal entry site and to reduce transmission of the virus to others." How effective was the nasal vaccine? The clinical trial included 72 people who received vaccinations, with ages ranging from 12 to 53. A total of 61 participants completed the entire trial. During the period of the trial from September 2021 to May 2023, various waves of SARS-CoV-2 variant infections emerged in the US. Participants were divided among four groups. One group received a low dose of the vaccine, which served as a control group. The other three higher dose groups included one group of adults that had never been infected or had not been vaccinated recently; a group of adults that had been recently vaccinated with a previous mRNA vaccine; and a group of teens that also had been vaccinated. Overall, about 25% of recipients reported having a runny nose after the vaccine; 8% reported nausea. None had a fever. The researchers found evidence that the vaccine was absorbed in the nasal tissues, and that it generated statistically significant antibody responses, as intended. CVXGA1 produced a combined 51.9% mucosal antibody response rate across the three higher dose groups, compared to just 21.4% in the lower dose group. The low-dose group (Group 1, enrolled from September 2021 to February 2022) had the highest overall COVID-19 infection rate: 73.3%. The other three groups had infection rates ranging from 11.1% to 22.2%. None of those found to be infected required hospital care. The results suggest that the vaccine reduced the risk of infection by at least 67% compared to never being vaccinated before. However, definitive proof of efficacy will require larger trials designed specifically for this purpose. What's next? By design, a phase 1 clinical trial involves low numbers of participants. However, the results were encouraging enough to recommend moving ahead with larger clinical trials. The largest of the two ongoing trials (NCT06742281) seeks to enroll up to 10,016 participants by mid-2026 with the study completed by mid-2027. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
