Texas Republicans Want to Steal Space Shuttle Discovery From the Smithsonian

After NASA’s Space Shuttles were retired in 2010, they were eventually sent to museums in Florida, California, New York, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Virginia. But Texas Republicans are not happy that the Lone Star state didn’t get one, given its historic significance to space travel. And they’ve introduced legislation to take the space shuttle currently at the Smithsonian and bring it to Houston. U.S. senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz introduced a new bill on Thursday called the Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act, which would require the space shuttle Discovery to be transferred from the Smithsonian to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Discovery was sent to the Smithsonian because it’s the oldest shuttle that’s still space-worthy, making it invaluable for future research and study. If the legislation passed, it would require the Smithsonian to come up with a plan for moving the shuttle, and that’s where things get very, very tricky. As the news outlet col ... Read full article.