Johnson Space Center Director Says He Is "Disappointed"

While there was a lot of celebration in the cities selected for display of one of NASA's retiring space shuttles, Houston, home of the Johnson Space Flight Center, did not get to join the party.

"The NASA administrator had a difficult decision to make and evaluated the numerous proposals against several criteria, including geographic distribution," said JSC Director Michael L. Coats, after the announcement that facilities in Washington, Los Angeles, New York and Cape Canaveral, FL, will be the permanent homes of the space shuttle orbiters following their retirement.

"Although the orbiters were built in California and launched in Florida, I am personally disappointed that the Houston area was not awarded one of the space shuttle orbiters," Coats said. "Houston had a strong case: the Space Shuttle Program has been located here at JSC since its inception, the astronauts live and train here, and of course all the shuttle missions have been controlled from our Mission Control Center.

"Regardless of today's outcome," he concluded, "JSC -- along with our partners at Space Center Houston -- will continue to share the excitement of human spaceflight for decades to come."

FMI: www.nasa.gov