WASHINGTON \u2014 Space Shuttle Discovery, the most space-flown orbiter in NASA\u2019s fleet, may soon be embarking on a new mission. Not to space, but from its long-time home at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Air and Space Museum in the DMV to a NASA facility in Texas. <\/p>\n
Hidden inside President Donald Trump’s massive 900-page budget bill<\/a> is an $85 million provision authorizing the transfer of a “space vehicle” to a site associated with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to be displayed publicly. <\/p>\n The location is widely understood to refer to Space Center House, near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. <\/p>\n The vague language is intended to bypass Senate restrictions on what can be included in budget reconciliation legislation, but it reflects and advances the goals of the “Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act,” introduced<\/a> earlier this year by Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn.<\/p>\n The budget bill called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” was signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4.<\/p>\n SEE ALSO | How will President Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ impact DMV residents?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Discovery has been the crown jewel of the Smithsonian\u2019s air and space collection at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., for more than a decade. <\/p>\n The shuttle\u2019s journey to the Smithsonian began on April 19, 2012, when NASA formally transferred<\/a> it to the Smithsonian Institution, making it the first of NASA’s retired orbiters to be handed over to a U.S. museum. A modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft transported Discovery from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Washington Dulles International Airport. <\/p>\n The flight was a farewell tour, complete with low-altitude flybys that left watchers from the Space Coast to the Capitol in awe.<\/p>\n To make room for Discovery, the prototype orbiter Enterprise was relocated from the Udvar-Hazy Center to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. The high-profile shuttle shuffle made headlines across the country.<\/p>\n RELATED | Shuttle Enterprise’s move to New York delayed<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Houston played a starring role in Discovery’s career. Between 1984 and 2011, NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center was mission control for Discovery\u2019s 39 spaceflights, more than any other spacecraft in U.S. history. Among its most memorable moments: the July 4, 2006, launch on NASA\u2019s \u201creturn to flight\u201d mission following the Columbia tragedy<\/a>, which helped restore public confidence in the shuttle program and helped secure its future.<\/p>\n Discovery was named the \u201cvehicle of record\u201d by NASA, meaning it was preserved more completely than other orbiters for future historical and engineering study. It was transferred, along with full ownership rights, to the Smithsonian Institution, which holds it in trust for the American public.<\/p>\n Uncertainty of Ownership & Transfer Cost<\/p>\n Whether the Smithsonian can or will challenge the transfer remains uncertain, but Discovery\u2019s flight path back to Houston won’t be turbulence-free. <\/p>\n When the Smithsonian originally received Discovery in 2012, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a statement, “Houston has played a critical role throughout the life of the space shuttle, but it is clear political favors trumped common sense and fairness in the selection of the final locations for the orbiter fleet.”<\/p>\n