14 DAY TRIAL // US President Barack Obama recently took some time to respond to critics saying that the allocation of the retiring space shuttles to their new homes was a decision made based on political reasons. He explained that the White House had no say in the decision.
The way NASA chose to handle the three orbiters after their retirement this July was the sole responsibility and prerogative of the space agency, Obama explained. He was speaking primarily against critics brought by city of Houston.
The city has been the home of the Johnson Space Center (JSC) for decades, and the facility played a critical role in the success of the 30-year-old Space Shuttle Program. As such, many felt that the JSC was entitled to receive a spacecraft for display.
However, that this not happen. When NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced the four museums that will hold the shuttles, on April 12, the Johnson Center was not among them.
According to the announcement, Discovery will switch places with the test shuttle Enterprise at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington DC. The latter will go to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, which is located on Pier 86, in Manhattan, New York.
In a predictable decision, one of the shuttles, namely Atlantis, was given to the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spaceport has been the home of the Space Shuttle Program for about 30 years, and it only made sense for it to be awarded this honor.
As for Endeavor, the review panel that Bolden led decided to send it to the California Science Center, in Los Angeles, on the US West Coast. These decisions were taken at NASA after months of internal review and analyses, Space reports.
“The White House has nothing to do with [the decision],” Obama told Belo TV reporter Brad Watson, in Texas. The President also responded harshly when the reporter implied that the three spacecraft were sent to states that will be critical for Obama's reelection in 2012.
“I just said that was wrong. I just said that wasn't true,” he responded. Throughout the interview, the official maintained that the decision to send the orbiters to their newly-announced homes was made after careful consideration at NASA.
Two days after Bolden's announcement, Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced a new bill called the Space Shuttle Retirement Act. It basically states that the orbiters should be taken to Texas, California and Florida, respectively, as well as Virginia, where the Smithsonian is located.
“Instead of relying on political guidance systems, these decisions must be steered by history and logic,” the Congressman said in a statement released shortly after the bill was introduced.
“My legislation would designate the retirement home of the three space shuttles based on the location and history of the shuttles’ launches, landings, and mission support, the fourth based on the Smithsonian’s role in preserving American artifacts,” he added.