by A famous NASA space shuttle is to be moved from Smithsonian and Texas after the Republicans of the Republicans passed the tax law of President Donald Trump on Thursday.
The focus of the so -called “Big, Beautiful Bill” was an expansion of Trump’s tax reductions in 2017 and cuts for the health program with low income medicaid. But there is a lesser known destination that has a controversy.
As soon as Trump’s invoice has been signed, 85 million US dollars are assigned to the Space Center Houston for the transport of the Discovery Space Shuttle from Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. The shuttle was part of the SASA Space Shuttle program, which ran from 1981 to 2011.
The provision was criticized by Smithsonian and others because of the costs and potential for the damage to the shift of the Space Shuttle.
In a new report by The Washington PostThe Smithsonian estimated that it will actually cost more than 300 million US dollars to transport discovery if the costs such as the construction of a new facility in the Space Center Houston for the shuttle and the creation of an alternative museum expansion in Smithsonian are taken into account.
The discovery would also be “extremely complex and difficult”, said the Smithsonian and added that there was a “considerable” danger due to damage to the shuttle.
Garrett Reisman, a former astronaut who flew the discovery, also commented on the transfer and called her “ridiculous and unnecessary”.
“I would much rather see that money invests in NASA’s science program,” Reisman told that post.
Trump has proposed to shorten the scientific program, which is “not sustainable” as the current 7 billion US dollars for his budget request from 2026.
“If you want to take the cutting and then hundreds of millions of dollars for one essentially a political mission – two senators who only take care of what is best for their state and not what is best for the country – I only find it a travesty,” said Reisman.
These two senators would be Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, both Republicans in Texas who supported the provision.
A spokesman for Cornyn told him post The Smithsonian’s estimate for the cost of the transfer of the shuttle was “deliberately exaggerated”.
“An external provider who is with military equipment such as tanks, military aircraft as a space shuttle, and the shuttle model estimated the total cost of $ 5 to $ 8 million,” said the speaker.
Cruz argued in an explanation to the post: “Houston stood in the heart of the America’s human space for a long time, and this legislation rightly honors this heritage.”
