Space shuttling between Houston and New York - let the insults begin

The future home of a retired space shuttle is causing a war and now it's a battle between two of the nation's proudest states - Texas vs New York.

It's a war we must win, but we've already lost a big battle when NASA snubbed Space City and set aside a shuttle for New York. The prototype orbiter Enterprise has been slated for the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. New York City?

I don't even have to go into any great detail how Houston has the Johnson Space Center, Mission Control, "Houston, we have a problem,"...etc. and New York has Broadway.

Now lawmakers are laying down claim to the aging spacecrafts. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee others introduced legislation that would temporarily loan the Space Shuttle Discovery to the Space Center Houston for 15 years.

"This legislation would temporarily set aside the decision to dispose of the Discovery shuttle and instruct Gen. Bolden and NASA to temporarily 'loan' the Discovery shuttle to the appropriate location in Houston, Texas for a period of 15 years," Congresswoman Lee said in a statement.

And it's become a war of words between Houston Congressman Ted Poe and New York Senator Chuck Schumer.

Poe says NASA made a big mistake and did this for political reasons. Then Schumer fired back.

"And I say to the people in Houston, when people all around the world in London and Tokyo and Paris and Buenos Aires say, 'Gee, I can't wait for my trip to Houston,' then you can have a shuttle," Schumer told a group of reporters. "Until then it's staying in New York."





We have to be careful with Sen. Schumer as an opponent. Even though he was not elected in Texas, he'll somehow figure out how to tax and regulate us until we don't want the shuttle. Then lots of citizens will flee to Connecticut...I mean Louisiana for relief.

Then there is the bigger picture. Clearly NASA is looking to scale down its presence at the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake. JSC was Mission Control for the shuttle fleet and obviously those missions are going away very soon. The current administration has also pretty much killed the back to the moon Constellation mission too. So what is the future of space locally for us? CONTACT: Leave me a Houston or Texas media news tip | COMMENT: Click to leave your thoughts on this post here