For months, Texas senators have been making a controversial push to move NASA’s iconic Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, a risky endeavor that could cost $150 million.

Like any NASA leader worth his salt, recently confirmed Administrator Jared Isaacman has developed a contingency plan.

On December 23, Isaacman SAYS moving Discovery will depend on whether it can be done without damaging the space shuttle and within budget. If not, he suggested sending Houston a different spacecraft, like a Orion capsule.

“If we can’t do that, you know what, we’ll have spacecraft orbiting the Moon with Artemis 2, 3, 4 and 5,” Isaacman said. “One way or another, we’re going to make sure Johnson Space Center gets that historic spacecraft back where it belongs.”

Houston’s fight for a space shuttle

In April, Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) indicated legislation to “bring Discovery home to Texas.” The core provisions of that bill were eventually included in HR 1, the budget reconciliation bill signed of the law on July 4.

Unlike Cornyn and Cruz’s original bill, these provisions do not specifically name Discovery or the Johnson Space Center. Instead, HR 1 includes $85 million for a “space vehicle transfer” of a crewed spacecraft to a NASA center involved in the agency’s commercial crew program and directs NASA to select a spacecraft to transfer within 30 days of enactment.

The bill also states that the selected vehicle must have flown into space, carrying astronauts, and must be selected with the approval of a third party selected by the NASA administrator. Discovery, the most flown shuttle in its 27 years of operation, fits that bill, but it’s not the only option.

In August, former NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy said CHOOSE a vehicle, but the agency declined to say which one. The office of Sen. Cornyn later MANILA the choice was a retired space shuttle bound for the Johnson Space Center—without specifying which shuttle.

Despite the uncertainty, the prospect of moving Discovery from its home at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has fueled efforts to block the move. Democrats in the Senate, grassroots organizersand the Smithsonian—which technically owns Discovery—all expressed concerns about the expensive and dangerous disassembly the move would require.

Discovery drama

In a letter addressed to the relevant committees of Congress in early October, the Smithsonian said that the museum and NASA agreed that Discovery would have to undergo “significant dismantling” in order to move, risking the destruction of the historic vehicle.

The letter also estimated that the minimum cost of relocating Discovery would be in the range of $120 million to $150 million, not including the cost of building a new facility to house the shuttle in Houston.

Cornyn and Cruz disputed the claims, all the way call for a Justice Department investigation into Smithsonian’s “illegal lobbying” against Discovery’s move. The DOJ has not yet launched the investigation.

Whether NASA and the Smithsonian move forward with Discovery remains to be seen, but a decision to give Houston an Orion capsule is likely to be the easier—and cheaper—alternative. Those spacecraft are smaller than the space shuttles and can BROUGHT by truck.

With Isaacman leading NASA in the midst of this space shuttle saga, he clearly wants to find a solution that appeases powerful senators and the spaceflight community. In the interview, he emphasized that preserving Discovery and conserving NASA’s budget are his top priorities.

“My job now is to make sure that we can do such transportation within the budget dollars that we have available and, of course, most importantly, to ensure the safety of the vehicle,” he said.