Sandy Adams Goes to Bat as Florida Looks to House Retired Space Shuttle

Sunshine News: Sandy Adams Goes to Bat as Florida Looks to House Retired Space Shuttle

With only two more space shuttle flights scheduled before the program is terminated, a congresswoman from Florida turned up the heat this week on NASA administrators as the Sunshine State dukes it out with other locations to house the retired orbiters.

Freshman Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams sent a letter on Tuesday to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, asking for one of the retired orbiters to be housed at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

“From the very beginning of the shuttle era at NASA, Kennedy Space Center has been the epicenter for shuttle activity,” argued Adams in the letter.

“Florida celebrates the victories and mourns the losses at NASA as a family,” continued Adams as she reviewed the program. “We all mourned the loss of the seven brave souls aboard the space shuttle Challenger in January of 1986.

“The space shuttle is as much a part of Florida as sunshine and beaches,” Adams maintained. “Not only has it been a rich part of Florida’s history, it has been an economic driver and a source of inspiration for the tens of thousands of people who support its operations and have made their homes in our great state.”

Adams asked that Bolden remember the role Florida played in the shuttle program and house a retired orbiter at KSC.

“I urge you to consider the important role the people of Florida have played in this era of exploration and adventure, and that you choose to house one of the shuttles at the KSC complex,” wrote Adams. “I ask that you remember the sacrifices NASA astronauts and workers have made, the families who are being affected by the new direction at NASA, and all of the people whose lives will be forever changed as we move forward to the next chapter in NASA’s mission.”

Adams joins a growing crowd of leaders from Florida, including Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and members of the Legislature, in calling for one of the retired shuttles to be housed at Kennedy Space Center.

The competition for the four remaining shuttles is getting tougher by the day. With the Discovery, which just completed its last mission earlier in the month, expected to be housed at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., cities and states are competing for the three remaining shuttles -- the Atlantis, the Endeavor and the Enterprise. While the Atlantis and the Endeavor are well-known to Floridians, the Enterprise was used in test missions and never went into space. It is currently housed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

At least 20 locations have applied to host one of the retired shuttles. Business leaders in Houston, home of the Johnson Space Center, are pushing to get one of the retired shuttles and have launched a website. The Museum of Flight in Seattle -- not too far from Boeing headquarters -- has started an aggressive campaign to lure one of the shuttles there, while New York is looking to add a shuttle near the retired USS Intrepid aircraft carrier currently docked on the West Side of Manhattan. While Bolden has the final say on where to send the shuttles, President Barack Obama included a budget request to Congress sending $14 million to The Museum of the United States Air Force, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, which looks to be a key state in the 2012 presidential election.

Adams followed up her letter in a statement on Wednesday.

“As NASA Administrator Charles Bolden prepares to make a decision regarding the disposition of the space shuttle fleet, I strongly urge him to house one of the orbiters at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center,” said Adams. “From the beginning of the shuttle era at NASA, Kennedy Space Center has been the epicenter for shuttle activity. Since the very first launch of space shuttle Columbia, to the final mission of the space shuttle fleet scheduled for this summer, the Space Coast and the hard-working men and women of Florida have been there all along making history.

“Children along the Space Coast have grown up watching shuttle launches from their porches and beachfronts with a sense of pride and awe,” added Adams. “NASA’s 30-year shuttle program is more than just space exploration to Florida families, it’s part of their history, it’s their livelihoods, and it’s a source of inspiration for the tens of thousands of people who support its operations and have made their homes in our great state. While Florida will always be home to the memories of NASA’s space shuttle program, I urge Administrator Charlie Bolden to make Florida’s Kennedy Space Center home to one of its orbiters.”