NASA Preplans Discovery Move With Heavy-Lift Firms Despite $86 Million Houston Push
Updated
Updated · Jalopnik · Jun 9
NASA Preplans Discovery Move With Heavy-Lift Firms Despite $86 Million Houston Push
1 articles · Updated · Jalopnik · Jun 9
Summary
NASA met last week with heavy-lifting companies to sketch logistics for relocating a vehicle comparable in size and complexity to a space shuttle orbiter, as Houston keeps pressing to obtain Discovery.
A draft proposal also contemplates moving several NASA vehicles, including the conceptual relocation of a large aerospace vehicle, indicating the agency is at least exploring how such a transfer could work.
The effort faces steep practical and legal hurdles: Discovery is 122 feet long, weighs 86 tons, and retired shuttle engineers have said moving it without damage would be extremely difficult.
Cost is another obstacle. The $86 million Congress set aside for a move likely falls short of the $200 million to $300 million the National Air and Space Museum previously estimated.
The Smithsonian says it owns Discovery and holds it in trust for the nation, underscoring a 15-year dispute after Houston failed to win an orbiter when NASA ranked it seventh in the final selection process.