NASA decision to send space shuttle to L.A. is 'shameful,' 'tawdry politics,' critics say

Los Angeles' surprise win in its bid to house NASA's space shuttle Endeavour has sparked anger in Texas and Ohio, which were seen as favorites to land one of the three retiring spacecraft.

Texans couldn't understand how their state, home to NASA's Mission Control, could be passed over for a space shuttle. Nor could people in Ohio, site of the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

They called for a congressional investigation and charged that politics played a role in NASA's decision to send Endeavour to Los Angeles, Atlantis to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Discovery to the Smithsonian in northern Virginia. The shuttle prototype Enterprise will head to New York.

"It is unthinkable that the home of human space flight would not represent the ideal home for a retired orbiter," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas). Houston Mayor Annise Parker said in a statement, "There was no other city with our history of human space flight or more deserving of a retiring orbiter. It is unfortunate that political calculations have prevailed in the final decision."

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) branded the decision "tawdry politics."

And Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), vowed, "The fight is not over.'' Brown, who sought to bring a shuttle to the National Air Force Museum at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, joined other members of Ohio's congressional delegation in calling for an investigation into the selection process.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden could face a tough time when he next appears before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.

One of its members, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) called the decision "shameful."

"Houston is home to a generation of astronauts, scientists and engineers at the Johnson Space Center who have guided every shuttle mission and who have personally grieved the loss of friends and family who gave their lives in the name of space exploration," he said. "On this historic day their unmatched contributions are ignored in favor of two states, New York and California, whose investment in America's space program pales in comparison."

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-- Richard Simon in Washington

Photo: Space shuttle Endeavour prepares to touch down at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on July 31, 2009. NASA has announced that Endeavour will find a permanent home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Credit: Matt Stroshane / Getty Images

Comments

[KatieScarlette1earthling]

So according to most of the California posters who keep boasting about how they built all the shuttles and how they deserve to keep the one they have - are they also willing to own up to the fact they killed the Challenger shuttle with the infamous "O" ring that blew her to bits over Florida back in the 1980's as well? If not then stop your frickin' boasting about how much you have the RIGHTs to this shuttle and any others. I lived in California when the Challenger was made there, and a HIGH SCHOOL teenager in CA when she blew apart over FL... I currently live in one of the states that lost the bid! So yes, I have the rights to be irritated like everyone else whose state didn't win their bid for a "shuttle," and I agree with the poster earlier today who said Mothball them and wait out the Governmental stupidity who thinks they are no longer useful...

[Steve]

Can we start worrying about really important things? We all know that the decision as to where the shuttles were to be exhibited would be political. If Texas had gotten one, another state would cry foul. Both Republicans and Democrats. This is just like pork barrel politiics. People (both politicians and many constituents) worry about what they should get. Houston was the site of Mission Control not because any rockets were launched from or landed there, but because of LBJ. They benefited from a political decision. California is no more ethical in this regard. How ever turns down benefits? That's like asking people calling for tax cuts and program cuts to say that they should suffer as much as the next guy. Silliness.

[Anonymous]

Funny how people are pointing to population. Houston is the 4th largest city in the US in terms of population and Texas is the 2nd most populated state. By that logic, Houston should have undoubtedly received a shuttle. As a Democrat living in DC (with ties to Texas), I recognize that politics must have surely played a role in the decision to not send a shuttle to Houston. Anyone who has spent any time in Houston knows how important NASA has been to the city and vice-versa. "Houston, we have a problem" indeed.

[Glen]

New York is the most populated city in the United States and the shuttle will receive maximum tourist exposure. Los Angeles is the second most populated city in the country and for that reason alone, it too deserves a shuttle. While I am sure that dozens of tourists a year would marvel at it in Houston it does not make any economic sense to place them in inaccessible backwaters like Houston, Ohio or Huntsville Alabama (another claimant crying foul). The Intrepid museum in NYC, which is right on 42nd Street gets close to a million visitors a year. If the shuttle is for all Americans to enjoy, it must be placed somewhere where all Americans go.

And FYI, the place they are planning on sticking it in DC is many miles outside the center of town...not on the Mall...in the Air & Space "annex" out by Dulles. The inaccessibility of that shuttle is such that I suppose a colorable argument could be made for sending that one elsewhere, provided it was readily accessible.

Anyway, I can't wait to see the shuttle in California and New York, home to the people who contributed to the space program by PAYING for it.

[wsholar]

If a shuttle had a ever set down in TX, TXn's might have a leg to stand on. Control/training facilities. That's all that has ever happened in Houston. Space flight takes place in and out of FL and CA. New York is the biggest tourist destination in the World as well as home to the UN. It's the most international city in the nation. The decisions were sound: national capital, largest city, 2nd-largest city as well as the state that designed/constructed/tested/landed the first orbiters, and the NASA spaceport. Moving forward, as spaceflight becomes privatized, CA will be the home to all American mission control, at SpaceX. JSC will be an insignificant player in controlling space missions within ten years. TX got its control/training facilities through Democratic political clout, so it's fitting that that same Democratic political clout denied it an orbiter. In the words of Seinfeld, "Hey, everything always evens out!"

[Jan Kugo]

To KatieScarlette1earthling:

Please do your homework before spewing misinformation that California "killed the Challenger" because of the O-ring fiasco. The company that manufactured these O-rings is Morton Thiokol, based in... yes, you guessed it, Utah.

The orbiters were born here in sunny California, and people from Texas and Ohio should get over it.

Complain to New York instead.

[John J]

Anne and to all. All the Space shuttles were built in Downey and Palmdale. Palmdale was the testbed. It would be nice to have a great Southland Treasure that was built in the LA County!

[jad]

Politics played a part in where the space shuttle goes? I'm shocked. The next thing you'll tell me is that politics plays a part in deciding who gets taxed.

[gtoya]

looks like poor LOSERS are bigger in Texas too.

[Luke Perez]

Critics should remember that Southern California is home to vital aspects of the space program. La Canada is home to JPL and NASA labs which were key to the launching of the first space shuttles and subsequent shuttles since then. There is also Doweny which built the first space shuttles. I'm a senior in High School and I'm aware of this. Others should actually do some research and realize that Los Angeles and Southern California played and plays just as vital a role as Houston.

[No tagging]

Why LA? They're just gonna get tagged up here.

[neo2214]

I feel like Texas should be focusing on the future of the Space Program rather than the past. Arguing over where a space relic should rest, then threatening to waste the peoples time and money because you don't agree, seems petty and narrow-sighted.

[My Truth Hurts]

HAha! Texas.

[Andy]

Ohio? Sorry, guys, but the Wright brothers didn't fly there.

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, should have a shuttle. Plus, people actually want to visit the Outer Banks!

[My Truth Hurts]

Happy to be Americans when it glorifies you but ready to leave the Union over policies that help others like health care reform? Get real, Texas.

[M]

Have people forgotten that California is home to not just one, not just two, but THREE NASA CENTERS? Ames in the Bay Area, JPL in Pasadena, and Dryden in the desert. Shuttles were built here. Shuttles have landed here. We have a launch site (Vandenberg) that would have launched shuttles if not for the Challenger accident. The unmanned space program has a strong home here. The aerospace industry has a huge home here. And CSC, recipient of the shuttle, reaches many people, students, underserved populations.

And Texas...has Mission Control for the Human Exploration program? And never had a shuttle in their state? Huh.

[Tom]

Well I think Southern California deserves a shuttle, but I have to admit, choosing New York over Houston is just really, really hard to understand. More visitors, I suppose, but nothing like the aerospace history or interest of CA, TX, FL, DC, or OH (the AF museum really isn't that great).

[Larry]

Actually, I think Houston has a point. I would split them up differently, though. The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum keeps Enterprise. The three "real" shuttles go to 1) the place they were launched, 2) the place where the missions were controlled, and 3) the place where they were built. New York gets zilch.

[BobTeh]

Amazing how ignorant Kay Bailey Hutchinson and the others are regarding Southern California's participation in the creation, building, flying and landing of the space shuttles. If these ridiculous whining claims regarding NASA's decision to award a space shuttle to Los Angeles see the light of day in Congress, then I agree it will have become tawdry politics. The anti-California sentiment outside of the state is beyond comparison. Kudos to all those in California who helped bring the space shuttle project to fruition and can soon point with pride to a shuttle in LA to your family and friends that you had a hand in building.

[Blue Maverick]

Texas, go cry in your hats.

[David]

Sorry but kids want to go to L.A. and see the shuttle, hit Disneyland, hit Universal Studios. They don't want to go to Houston and sweat.

[krvonl]

The space shuttle was designed, built, and tested in Southern California. Edwards AFB served as the landing site of many shuttle missions.

[clam608]

Texans are bunch of whiners, no more no less.

[woof-woof]

Great. We're going to put this piece of history in the Science Museum where very few will bother to go to see it. Face it, how often do Los Angelenos go to the Science Museum? But first, our broke state has to come up with the tens of millions of dollars it will take to ship the shuttle here, and they have to come up with even more money to build a facility to house it. No doubt, they will not make enough from entrance fees to pay for the cost of maintenance, so it will be a continual drain on state resources.

[Stephen]

Folks, let's not stir up a spitting war between LA and Houston. This is not about Texas versus California. It's more about how we as a nation should view ourselves and how certain ideals can have geographical connections beyond money and tourism numbers.

The complaints from the Texas legislators are about not getting a shuttle from NASA. There was nothing at all directed at California or Los Angeles in their remarks. They're just disappointed that a city with so much correlation to space program somehow could not make it into the top 4 spots. Are there really more than 4 cities that resonate more with the space program than Houston?

Would New York's tourism suffer one bit if they didn't have the shuttle? Is it good to encourage tourists to visit places not normally considered hot spots? Are we saying that large populations center should automatically get everything? If so, why not just send every good thing to New York City? How about moving Hollywood to New York? Why not relocate Smithsonian to New York?