Shuttle Discovery could leave Virginia for Texas

CHANTILLY, Va. (DC News Now) — The Space Shuttle Discovery may take one more flight, to a possible new home in Houston, Tx.

The shuttle has been on display at the Udvar Hazy Center since it flew its final mission in 2012.

But a provision in the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” would clear the way for Discovery to be moved.

“I’m not conceding a loss,” said Chris Browne, director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, which includes Udvar Hazy.

He’s not giving up the shuttle without a fight.

“The Discovery is in its rightful place,” Brown said. “We have the legal means to keep it there.”

NASA, according to Browne, transferred ownership of the shuttle to the museum in 2012.

Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz co-sponsored the legislation to move the shuttle.

“Houston has long been the cornerstone of our nation’s human space exploration program, and it’s long overdue for Space City to receive the recognition it deserves by bringing the Space Shuttle Discovery home,” Cornyn said in a statement.

Discovery flew 39 missions into orbit around the Earth during its history from 1984 through 2012, as the shuttle traveled nearly 150 million miles.

“Houston has long stood at the heart of America’s human spaceflight program, and this legislation rightly honors that legacy,” Cruz said in a statement.

Discovery has helped attract well over a million visitors a year to the museum. They hope the shuttle doesn’t leave.

“That would be really, really sad,” said Oscar Pozo Ortiz, a regular visitor to the shuttle with his family.

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine introduced an amendment to keep discovery where it is. But it appears to have failed to make it into the final version of the bill.