Only way to move Space Shuttle Discovery is to chop it into pieces, White House told

Smithsonian warns that dismantling orbiter for relocation is history in the wrecking

How would you move Space Shuttle Discovery from Virginia to Texas? The White House Office of Management and Budget asked NASA and the Smithsonian Institution and the response was to dismantle it.

The space agency and research institute estimate "that the cost to move Discovery to Houston would, at minimum, be between $120 million and $150 million, exclusive of the cost of building a new exhibit in Houston." This is considerably more than the $85 million budgeted for transportation and exhibition construction. Unfortunately, doing so may require disassembling the Space Shuttle.

A Capitol Hill source confirmed to The Register the existence of the exchange.

The Space Shuttle was never designed to be dismantled. In addition to its frame and internals, the vehicle is covered with delicate ceramic tiles, capable of withstanding the heat of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, along with thermal blankets. Then there are the cables and connectors underneath.

If it must be moved and legal hurdles such as ownership are overcome, then dismantling it and accepting damage to an irreplaceable artifact is unavoidable. The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft have long been decommissioned, and getting one flightworthy again would be a lengthy and expensive undertaking, even if it were possible. Going by water requires a journey to a barge suitable for transporting the spacecraft and all the associated expenses.

So, if the Shuttle is to be relocated, and Discovery is the selected space vehicle, it'll need to be taken apart and then put back together at its destination.

"Discovery is the most intact shuttle orbiter of the NASA program, and we remain concerned that disassembling the vehicle will destroy its historical value," wrote the Smithsonian in a letter to the Congressional Authorizing & Appropriating Committees.

"We remain concerned about the unprecedented nature of a removal of an object from the national collection, and that we would be causing damage to the most intact orbiter from the Space Shuttle program. In particular, irreparable damage to the Shuttle tiles will occur in disassembly, which were critical to the Shuttle's unique reusability."

The US reconciliation bill, signed into law on July 4, includes a requirement to move a flown space vehicle to Houston, Texas. The vehicle in question is widely expected to be Discovery, although NASA has yet to confirm this. Several lawmakers are seeking to remove the relocation requirement, including Senator Mark Kelly, a former commander of Discovery.

Nothing has happened yet, but the request to begin preparations and undertake planning indicates that wheels are in motion. ®