Keith’s note: This press release came out from Senator John Cornyn about a meeting with Jared Isaacman and then goes into a litany of complaints about retired space shuttle destinations: “Mr. Isaacman committed to follow Sen. Cornyn’s provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, now law, to move the Space Shuttle Discovery in one piece from Virginia to its rightful home in Space City.” OK – a summary:

1. The bill never says “Space Shuttle Discovery” and you could meet the requirement in the bill with a Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo capsule. Or a commercial vehicle. Or a Soyuz in Washington, DC.
2. Moving a spacecraft “in one piece” – well if it is a shuttle either they will have to recreate the 747 carrier aircraft ($$$$) or do major highway modifications in northern Virgina ($$$$). In other words vastly more money will be needed than has been called for to date.
3. If the money is not found and or the infrastructure is unavailable then Discovery will not be moving. So you can support the unlikely move but not lose the orbiter at the same time.
4. Congress could get more descriptive and add money but at a time when dozens of missions are being cancelled that is going to be problematical.
5. Nice summary here at Transfer of a Space Vehicle: Issues for Congress online at Congress.gov
6. And of course you should check out the folks at KeepTheShuttle.

Keith’s note: Unfortunately Governor Abbott and his posse are diminishing the rights of many of the current and future space employees in Texas to have control over their own bodies. Not the best way to attract business. Good luck with that Texas Space Commission. it is much the same situation in other space states like Alabama and Florida. Don’t be surprised when people turn down job offers. Just sayin’. Here’s the press release.

NASA: A Texas Institution with a Large Economic Impact, Texas Comptroller “The Johnson Space Center (JSC) makes a $4.7 billion annual impact on the Texas economy and supports more than 52,000 jobs, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said today in a visit to the NASA facility as part of his Good for Texas Tour. JSC currently operates three facilities in Texas covering nearly 1,700 acres. It’s the site of Mission Control, […]

When asked why no one from the Texas delegation showed up at this event (despite being invited) @JimBridenstine punted and deferred to the members of Congress. — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) August 16, 2019 FYI @SenTedCruz @RepBrianBabin WRT claims that @NASA_Johnson is center of expertise in human lunar landers based on Apollo experience: that design & operations happened 50 yrs ago. Apollo human expertise left JSC long ago. All remaining expertise […]

Boehner defectors booted from panel, The Hill “Boehner was elected to a third term as Speaker with 216 votes on Tuesday, with 25 Republicans defecting in a failed attempt to force a second ballot. One of the defectors was Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas), who says he’s already suffering retribution. Weber, who voted for Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) for Speaker, was originally slated to be the sponsor of a noncontroversial Science, […]

SpaceX expansion could add 300 jobs locally, Waco Tribune “In a report prepared by the city of Waco’s economic development staff, SpaceX is proposing to invest $46.3 million in the site during the next five years. That will consist of about $32.4 million in real property improvements and $13.9 million in personal property improvements. SpaceX will add 300 new jobs by Dec. 31, 2018, with employees receiving benefits and an […]

SpaceX Signs Agreement with Texas for Brownsville Spaceport, SpaceRef Business “Texas Governor Rick Perry announced that the state of Texas will provide incentives to SpaceX so that the company can build a commercial spaceport in Cameron County. The incentives include $2.3 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF). As well the state will provide $13 million from the Spaceport Trust Fund to the Cameron County Spaceport Development Corp. to support […]

SpaceX may pick Texas over controversial Merritt Island launch site, Orlando Sentinel “Though Florida officials admit that the state is an underdog in the fight, they contend that Spaceport Shiloh, named for an abandoned citrus town in the Cape Canaveral area, is worth fighting for — and not just for SpaceX. “We are going ahead with Shiloh with or without SpaceX,” said Frank DiBello, president of Space Florida, a booster […]

SpaceX official testifies before House committee, Brownsville Herald “At Thursday’s committee hearing, Caryn Schenewerk, counsel and director of government affairs for SpaceX, testified that Texas is high on the list for the future site of a launch facility for the company’s rockets. “We want to be somewhere where our activity is valued.” she added. The SpaceX official testified that what SpaceX is doing is a capital-intensive endeavor and before the […]

Is Texas forfeiting the private space race?, Houston Chronicle “We are pretty interested in the possibility of Texas and building a spaceport there,” said Elon Musk, founder and chief executive of SpaceX. However, Musk says that interest has yet to be reciprocated by Texas officials. “There’s been a lot of good action by the authorities in the Brownsville area; there’s not been that much at the state level, and we’d […]