No Space Shuttle for Dayton

DDN:

NASA’s decision Tuesday not to donate a space shuttle to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force angered members of Ohio’s congressional delegation, who called for a federal investigation.

They urged the U.S. Government Accountability Office to review NASA’s selection process that left out other sites in the country’s interior, including Chicago, Tulsa and Houston.

Four of the 21 competing sites received shuttles. Three of the sites are on the East Coast, and one is on the West Coast. NASA ranked the Air Force museum fifth among its top sites, said U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek.

Austria said NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. told him the museum met all of NASA’s stated key criteria for permanent display of an orbiter, including science and education programs, accessibility, display plans and climate-controlled location for housing and displaying the spacecraft.

But, in the end, New York City; Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; and Florida’s Space Coast won out, with their population bases and tourist drawing power. Bolden overlooked the Air Force museum even though it already draws 1.3 million visitors a year.

The Air Force museum is also within a day’s drive of 60 percent of the U.S. population, museum supporters said.

Count me as one who thinks people around Dayton were deluding themselves in the Space Shuttle chase.  How much work did Dayton really do on the shuttle.  Houston didn't get one and the program was based there.  It is estimated that Houston may lose 7,500 jobs from the end of the Shuttle program.

Here's Mike Turner being a good local pol:

Austria, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, and others said Bolden’s decision slighted the Midwest and the Air Force, which was an early partner of NASA’s in designing and developing the space shuttle and contributed $8 billion to its development.

“New York and L.A. don’t make a lot of sense. They didn’t make contributions to the program,” said Turner, referring to the shuttle program. “No one in the Midwest is going to have a shuttle.

“We’ll never be New York; we’ll never be Los Angeles. But we’ll always be home to the Wright brothers, to all things aerospace,” Turner said.

I would say that Los Angeles did have a decent amount to do with the shuttle program, as Edwards Air Force Base was the backup landing site for shuttle missions.  New York may not have a great case for getting a space shuttle, but it is also the largest city in the United States, and will see more tourists in a year than Dayton will see in 25 years.  I also think the Smithsonian Institution and Cape Canaveral were obvious picks for a Shuttle.

Ohio is a bastion of the Tea Party, even though this area's economy is kept afloat by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the largest single-site place of employment in Ohio.  When the public reacts to such a perceived slight to the region, it only highlights that our economy is extremely dependent on largess from Washington.  In spite of this, the majority of the region denigrates the federal government.  But we are not unique.  The John Birch Society, the Tea Party and other anti-government movements have always flourished in Orange County, California, even though that economy was driven by defense contractors throughout the Cold War.  Why do so many people who depend on work from the government, hate the same institution.  I don't quite understand.