Draft Request for Proposals says you can move shuttle orbiter but you cannot break it

NASA has issued a draft Request for Proposals to move a flown space vehicle, a step some lawmakers see as progress toward relocating Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian Museum in Virginia to Houston, Texas.

The agency emphasized it was seeking feedback on transporting something like a flown Orion capsule as well as a Space Shuttle orbiter.

Administrator Jared Isaacman has yet to name the vehicle moving to Houston under the Trump administration's budget. Space Shuttle Discovery was not mentioned in the bill, although several US lawmakers have long sought to relocate the retired orbiter to Texas.

In a statement, US Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said: "My law authorizing and funding the Space Shuttle Discovery's movement to Houston is being set into motion thanks to NASA's announcement, and I applaud Administrator Isaacman for keeping this process moving.

"Today is real progress in our mission to bring Discovery ...