The KeepTheShuttle team claims to have obtained a letter from a congressional staffer confirming that the White House’s Office of Management & Budget has directed the Smithsonian and NASA to examine plans to disassemble the Space Shuttle Discovery to facilitate its relocation to Houston.
The letter, sent by the Smithsonian to congressional authorizing and appropriating committees, warns that moving Discovery would likely require dismantling the historic orbiter. This process would cause “irreparable damage” to its aluminum frame, 24,000 ceramic tiles, and 2,000 thermal insulation blankets. The Smithsonian and NASA estimate the base cost of such a move to be between Z$120 million and $150 million, excluding the cost of constructing a new exhibit in Texas, which far exceeds the currently authorized $85 million.
Critics argue that Discovery was uniquely preserved for research and education. Dennis Jenkins, NASA’s former shuttle-retirement director, said the orbiter was kept “in as near to flight condition as we could” for future generations. Disassembling it, KeepTheShuttle warns, would destroy that legacy and undercut the Smithsonian’s role in preserving U.S. space history.
The letter also reiterates that NASA transferred “all rights, title, interest, and ownership” of Discovery to the Smithsonian. Still, the White House appears to be interpreting the new federal budget law to allow the move. Several lawmakers — including Senators Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Bob Kelly, and Dick Durbin — are opposing the relocation in the upcoming FY 2026 budget.
KeepTheShuttle, which first spoke to Potomac Local News in August, says it is working with allies in Congress and Fairfax County to preserve the orbiter at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Read our earlier interview with director Joe Stief.
Discovery first arrived in the Washington region on April 17, 2012, flying low over the nation’s capital atop a specially modified NASA 747 before landing at Dulles International Airport. Two days later, on April 19, the orbiter was transferred to the Smithsonian during a public ceremony and rolled into its permanent home inside the Udvar-Hazy Center, where it has been a centerpiece ever since.
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