Senators Cruz, Cornyn file legislation to bring Space Shuttle Discovery to Houston

Texas U.S. senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz on Thursday filed new legislation aimed at bringing the Space Shuttle Discovery home to the Houston area from Virginia.

The bill, which the lawmakers are calling the “Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act,” would authorize the transfer of the shuttle to its “rightful home near NASA’s Johnson Space Center.”

“I am proud to lead the effort to finally bring Discovery home to Houston, where future generations of Texans and Americans can come to learn about the city’s integral role in our nation’s space shuttle program,” Cornyn said.

“It’s past time that the Space Center Houston Museum houses a space shuttle, given the unique relationship between the entire program and its support staff in Houston,” Cruz said. “Bringing the Discovery to its final home will offer hundreds of thousands of visitors each year the opportunity to engage with a living piece of NASA’s history and understand why Houston is known worldwide as ‘Space City.'”

The bill has garnered support from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who called Houston the “epicenter for manned spaceflight.”

“The first word spoken from the moon was ‘Houston,'” Abbott said. “To honor that legacy, it’s long overdue for a retired NASA Space Shuttle to rest at Houston’s Johnson Space Center so Texans can see, learn from and enjoy it for generations.”

According to a news release from Cornyn’s office, the Space Shuttle Discovery is owned by the federal government. It is currently in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.