Saw the Space Shuttle Endeavor last week.

[mlee]

I'll just leave this here then...

“I have felt no political pressure at all during this process. I’m apolitical. I’m here to do what is best for NASA,” said Olga Dominguez, Assistant Administrator, Office of Strategic Infrastructure, who forwarded the recommended sites chosen to Charles Bolden.

The selection process was poorly conceived in the sense that NASA never clearly stated the criteria by which the orbiters would be parsed out.

Despite his own personal preference, Bolden told investigators, he “could not ignore that Space Center Houston had relatively low attendance rates and provided significantly lower international access than the locations selected.” Those scoring categories — in the rating system he pushed for — are what killed it for Houston.



Whether or not the site should have been picked is irrelevant at this point, but saying Johnson Space Center was at fault for not being prepared is ludicrous.



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[motorhead]

Thanks for the awesome pictures everyone. I would love to see the shuttle and the other amazing machinery in those pictures in person some day.

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by mlee

I'll just leave this here then...

“I have felt no political pressure at all during this process. I’m apolitical. I’m here to do what is best for NASA,” said Olga Dominguez, Assistant Administrator, Office of Strategic Infrastructure, who forwarded the recommended sites chosen to Charles Bolden.

The selection process was poorly conceived in the sense that NASA never clearly stated the criteria by which the orbiters would be parsed out.

Despite his own personal preference, Bolden told investigators, he “could not ignore that Space Center Houston had relatively low attendance rates and provided significantly lower international access than the locations selected.” Those scoring categories — in the rating system he pushed for — are what killed it for Houston.

Attachment 648688

Whether or not the site should have been picked is irrelevant at this point, but saying Johnson Space Center was at fault for not being prepared is ludicrous.



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Your quote doesn't prove anything.. The fact that Houston is the only city that's still using the "the contest was rigged" excuse just shows what's really going on here.

Whether NASA told anyone or not that it was important that you had the millions of dollars to pay for the orbiter or a facility beforehand, wouldn't have changed anything for Houston. Or any museum for that matter. You can't just whip up a couple million dollars and a multiple million dollar facility in a few months. That's why most museums started raising a ton of money and sending in proposals ahead of time.

Actually, a little side story here, NASA DID tell all the museums that the money for the orbiter would have to be payed ahead of time and that the orbiter would have to go on display in a climate controlled facility immediately. That's when Houston stepped in and told NASA that they wouldn't be able to do that. So Seattle said that they'd take Houston's shuttle until they were ready to receive it, but Bolden shot that idea down because the Shuttle Carrier Aircrafts were going to be retired after the shuttles, so there'd be no way to get the shuttle from Seattle to Houston.

And it just proves me right that you posted that score card. You can see all the areas that go along with being prepared to receive a shuttle that Houston scored poorly in. And how much it really hurt their score.

Like I said in earlier posts, Houston lost because they weren't prepared and they're not a huge tourist hub.

[Overflow]

Mlee, I suggest you read this article. It was written by someone who was greatly involved with NASA and worked at JSC. It reiterates what I said about why Houston didn't get a shuttle.

http://waynehale.wordpress.com/2011/...get-a-shuttle/

[AZCamaroFan]

good thread. next time i go to l.a. i will see Endeavour.