Maobama in Space!!

Styolz

I'm from Texas and everyone is in a RAGEEEEEEE about the space shuttles not being put in Houston. I understand that much, but not a single person blames Colden, everyone blames Obama. Just curious if the conspiracy theories of the shuttles being put in swing states is true (although I don't see why they would pass up Ohio or put a Shuttle in CA if that were the case).

Also didn't feel this question held enough weight to throw into debate and discourse.

Thanatos

Neither New York nor California are swing states.

From what I've heard, it's mostly because Houston didn't actually start politicking for one until the last minute; no one was really interested in it until it became clear that New York and California were going to have them, and Texas wasn't.

Captain Marcus

Wait, what? I thought the shuttle program was closed forever. Why are New York and California getting the defunct shuttles?

PolloDiablo

They have good aerospace museums. I don't know anything about how the place in Houston is set up, maybe they wouldn't be positioned as well to care for a retired shuttle? New York does seem a little odd. It would be on that aircraft carrier?

Deebaser

On behalf of New York, I say that when Houston is cool enough to make a museum out of a goddamn aircraft carrier, we will let them look at our awesome new space shuttle.

MetroidZoid

Cali comes to mind because the Shuttle frequently landed at Edwards too, correct? That's got to be good for something.

Feels Good Man

PolloDiablo wrote: »

They have good aerospace museums. I don't know anything about how the place in Houston is set up, maybe they wouldn't be positioned as well to care for a retired shuttle? New York does seem a little odd. It would be on that aircraft carrier?

Well... about that...

I don't really give a shit. But yeah, I grew up about 5 minutes away from Space Center Houston and a couple people on my facebook are blowing up about it too.

edit: such as this gem

He campaigned "CHANGE" and so far all he's done is fuck up! It was politics vs. logic on the space shuttle decision! I don't know about you, but NASA does have a lot to do with aeronautics, etc. so...wouldn't it make since for us to get a shuttle vs. some random museum??? I can't wait till next November! A NEW PRESIDENT! Obama, you really suck!!!

emp123

The placement of shuttles in New York and LA makes sense since theyre the two largest cities in the United States, neither of which is a swing state (or in danger of becoming one). The decision to put one in DC is curious since as far as I know they already have the Enterprise. Kinda seems to me like they should either move the Enterprise to DC or move the one destined for DC to Houston.

enlightenedbum

emp123 wrote: »

The placement of shuttles in New York and LA makes sense since theyre the two largest cities in the United States, neither of which is a swing state (or in danger of becoming one). The decision to put one in DC is curious since as far as I know they already have the Enterprise. Kinda seems to me like they should either move the Enterprise to DC or move the one destined for DC to Houston.

They're moving Enterprise to New York.

Atlantis -> Cape Canaveral
Discovery -> Smithsonian
Endeavor -> LA
Enterprise -> NYC

Fats

Hey, Texas will always have Columbia.

It was a long shot, but I was hoping one of them would go to the Evergreen museum here in Oregon. We already have an SR-71A sitting underneath the Spruce Goose, but a shuttle would be amazing.

emp123

If only we built one more. Houston deserves a space shuttle, Im just unsure if theyre more deserving than LA or New York.

I know neither of these cities had much to do with the shuttle (although I believe the back up landing space for shuttle missions was Edwards Air Force Base, so it has at least some connection to the shuttle), but the sheer volume of people who will see it because its in these two cities is greater than Houston.

I still think it sucks that Houston isnt getting one, but its a hard decision to make. I could see not giving one to New York though, just to ensure equal distribution among the coasts.

Hevach

Thanatos wrote: »

Neither New York nor California are swing states.

From what I've heard, it's mostly because Houston didn't actually start politicking for one until the last minute; no one was really interested in it until it became clear that New York and California were going to have them, and Texas wasn't.

Later than the last minute, for that matter, by the time other cities started campaigns to get a shuttle, the decisions had been made and set in stone. This has been going on for years. It was, what, three years ago when they first said the Smithsonian was going to get one of the active duty shuttles and Enterprise would be going somewhere else? Almost two years ago an unconfirmed (well, confirmed now I guess) leak said the Enterprise was going to New York. The end date of the shuttle program wasn't even decided yet, and the fate of two out of four was already determined, and one being kept at the Cape is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

It's impossible to say for certain, but the Enterprise leak suggests that at most one shuttle was still "up for bids" even by the time Obama was even in office. And more likely that one just didn't get leaked, they did keep a lid on which shuttle was going to be kept at the space center itself.

Skoal Cat

emp123 wrote: »

If only we built one more. Houston deserves a space shuttle, Im just unsure if theyre more deserving than LA or New York.

I know neither of these cities had much to do with the shuttle (although I believe the back up landing space for shuttle missions was Edwards Air Force Base, so it has at least some connection to the shuttle), but the sheer volume of people who will see it because its in these two cities is greater than Houston.

I still think it sucks that Houston isnt getting one, but its a hard decision to make. I could see not giving one to New York though, just to ensure equal distribution among the coasts.

There is a list of landing places available for the Shuttle depending on what was happening at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_abort_modes#Emergency_landing_sites

Sir Carcass

Deebaser wrote: »

On behalf of New York, I say that when Houston is cool enough to make a museum out of a goddamn aircraft carrier, we will let them look at our awesome new space shuttle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_%28CV-16%29 ?

Maybe Corpus Christi should have gotten one.

locomotiveman

Alabama would have a good case for getting one too. That being said, if the rationale for giving them to New York and California is that they are swing states, well, there's no rationale there.

dlinfiniti

emp123 wrote: »

If only we built one more. Houston deserves a space shuttle, Im just unsure if theyre more deserving than LA or New York.

I know neither of these cities had much to do with the shuttle (although I believe the back up landing space for shuttle missions was Edwards Air Force Base, so it has at least some connection to the shuttle), but the sheer volume of people who will see it because its in these two cities is greater than Houston.

I still think it sucks that Houston isnt getting one, but its a hard decision to make. I could see not giving one to New York though, just to ensure equal distribution among the coasts.

LA was almost as integral to the shuttle program as houston what with JPL being there and all, as well as most of the manufacturing of the parts that went into the shuttles mostly came from LA. The choice of LA was an appropriate one outside of politics.

ceres

For future reference, the fact that you haven't fleshed out your D&D thread doesn't really make it an H/A thread. If you really want to see this discussed further on the forums, feel free to beef up your post and try again in D&D.