Space Center Houston wants retired shuttle

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER — Space Center Houston officials are pushing to obtain a space shuttle once NASA retires the fleet later this year.

The space center is among 20 venues across the country campaigning for either the Atlantis or Endeavour shuttle.

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., will receive the Discovery shuttle.

Houston is a logical choice for a shuttle since Mission Control and the Astronaut Corps are housed at the Johnson Space Center, Space Center Houston President Richard Allen said.

Space center officials are planning a 53,000-square-foot addition on the south side of the building to house the shuttle in an exhibit that would focus on the astronaut aspect of the program.

The space center’s addition and preparation and transportation of the shuttle to Houston will cost about $50 million, Allen said.

A shuttle exhibit could generate about $45 million each year, Robert F. Hodgin, University of Houston-Clear Lake associate professor of economics, said.

NASA this summer will notify officials whether the space center will receive a shuttle, which could come to Houston as early as July 2011, Allen said.

The center and the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership are working together to bring a space shuttle to Houston.

The organizations have received support from the Texas congressional delegation, and sent letters to President Barack Obama and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, partnership President Bob Mitchell said.

“It’s a monument to the men and women of Johnson Space Center,” Mitchell said. “This is the home of shuttle operations, and it would only be fitting to bring it back here.”