Opinion

Lost in space: Shuttle snub offers a warning that our Space City standing may be at risk

There are a number of ways to read the not-unexpected announcement by NASA administrator Charles Bolden that the three operational space shuttles and one test craft are headed for permanent display in museums far from the manned space program's control and training hub at the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake.

The Discovery, the flagship of the fleet which completed its final mission earlier this year, had already been earmarked for the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in the nation's capital.

On the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle flight yesterday, a gathering at Space Center Houston got the dispiriting news that its bid for one of the remaining space craft had been bypassed in favor of institutions in California, Florida and New York.

The choice of Cape Canaveral for the Atlantis was logical since that has been the launching site and main landing destination for the shuttle program. But NASA awarded the Endeavour to the California Science Center in Los Angeles and will transfer the test prototype Enterprise from the Smithsonian to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, housed aboard an aircraft carrier permanently docked in New York City.

Houston will have to settle for shuttle flight deck commander and pilot seats, an outcome about as impressive as winning one of those knockoffs of William Shatner's captain's chair on the Starship Enterprise marketed on eBay.

Local critics immediately accused NASA's Bolden of kowtowing to the pressure of presidential politics in the allocation of the shuttles. Houston Mayor Annise Parker spoke for many of us in saying, "I am disappointed for Houston, the JSC family and the survivors of the Columbia and Challenger missions who paid the ultimate price for the advancement of space exploration. 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."

That political charge was repeated by members of the Texas congressional delegation. On the other hand, unsuccessful bidders for a shuttle included institutions from President Barack Obama's adopted hometown, Chicago, Ill., and Dayton, Ohio, a key political swing state. California and New York are solidly Democratic and it's unlikely many votes will be influenced there by NASA's decision. That said, we believe Texas' red-state status did play a role in Houston's failure to land a shuttle. We think it was the wrong call.

Bolden, a former astronaut and Clear Lake resident, earlier opined that if he were not head of the space agency, he would personally favor sending a shuttle to Houston. According to the administrator, the museums chosen "provide the greatest number of people with the best opportunity to share in the history and accomplishments" of the shuttle program.

That's a plausible rationale, but not one sufficient to disregard the central role Houston has played in the shuttle's triumphs and tragedies.

Family members of astronauts killed in the Columbia and Challenger disasters had this response: "Although we disagree with this decision, we will persevere in our support of space exploration, just as we have done in the past."

The challenge should be very clear to our elected officials and community leaders. We cannot take our long standing as the nation's "Space City" for granted. To keep that key role in manned space exploration, we're going to have to fight a lot harder, and smarter, both on the local and national level.

Editor's note: The name of Endeavour was misspelled in an earlier version of this editorial.