NASA’s new chief hints that the iconic space shuttle won’t go to Texas after all

New NASA chief adds a new twist to the Texas space shuttle saga

By Claire Cameron Edited by Sarah Levin Frazier

The great Texas space shuttle saga has taken a new turn: Jared Isaacman, chosen by President Donald Trump to lead NASA, hinted that the space shuttle Search Still can’t go to Houston from his retirement home at the Smithsonian Museum Texas MP’s push To do so in the last year.

attempt to shift Search From its hangar in Chantilly, Washington, an annex of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, it was first described as “robbery” by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin in July – the same month, the move was signed into law by the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which provided $85 million to move the shuttle to the Space Center Houston museum within 18 months. yet recently Interview With CNBC, Isaacman said it remains to be seen whether the spacecraft can be moved.

“My job now is to make sure that we can do this transportation within the budget dollars that we have and of course, most importantly, to ensure the safety of the vehicle,” Isaacman said. NASA and the Smithsonian estimate that it is moving Search It will cost at least $120 million.

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If that’s not possible, NASA could eventually move a different vehicle to Houston, he said. “We’ve got spacecraft going around the moon Artemis second, third, fourth And VOne way or another, we’re going to make sure the Johnson Space Center gets their historic spacecraft, Isaacman said,

Space scientists and legal experts had earlier condemned Searchstep into the interview with scientific American as a “theft” and “a pointless project”. Others expressed concern that the Texas museum would not be able to properly house and maintain the spacecraft.

“Such a move would be a waste of money—a futile project that could destroy an almost priceless American treasure,” said Matthew Hersh, a fellow in legal history at New York University School of Law and an associate in Harvard University’s Department of the History of Science. scientific American,

“removal of Search “There will be a $2 billion theft of artwork from the Smithsonian Institution by the federal government, from a private museum that owns it and has been properly maintaining it for over a decade,” he said.

Search It was first launched in 1984, completing 39 missions in space – more than any of the four other space shuttles flown by NASA – including a mission to carry the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit in 1990.

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