Distributing Orbiters

It has long been settled policy that once the space shuttle program ends, the shuttles would head to museums around the country to be put on display. Recently, NASA named museums in New York City, Washington, D. C., and Los Angeles, along with the Kennedy Space Center, as recipients of a shuttle. The four orbiters include the remaining three that have flown in space plus the Enterprise, which never flew a space mission.

Everyone is not pleased with NASA's choices, however. People in Houston, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio-- and therefore their representatives in Congress-- are particularly miffed. One of their arguments is that New York has never been particularly associated with the space program, which is largely true, whereas Dayton has a renowned air and space museum, and Houston is, after all, Houston. NASA counters by arguing more people would get to see the shuttle if it were in New York. There is also some reason to believe that NASA Administrator Charles Bolden made the final decision on who got a shuttle at the very last moment, possibly just to get it done, which rankles some people who worked hard in the process NASA laid out.

Will the decisions be changed? Probably not, but in Washington these days, who knows?