# This is just wrong - no shuttle in Houston **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 12, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126 "2011-04-12T18:31:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/21 "2011-04-12T20:28:47Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Well, since this IS the pit and I am already going to hell a dozen times over I will point out Texas already has the Columbia. Thread winner! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/22 "2011-04-12T20:38:01Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Very cool! Can you tell us which part you built? > PLEASE tell me there really IS a toilet simulator. šŸ†’ We built the aft and overhead windows in the fixed-base and motion-base simulators. So that if the astronaut needed to practice a satellite launch or operation of the Canadian robotic arm on the shuttle, they would look out one of those windows. (They also looked out the overhead windows for navigational purposes.) Also BTW, the Canadians were endlessly proud of that robotic arm, to the point that Iā€™ll bet that Canadian coverage of the Challenger disaster probably led with the loss of the robotic arm. (Just kidding.) By the way, they rehearsed everything about a mission, from the launch to the landing. And so that included the mundane stuff, like meals and bathroom functions. The Apollo astronauts defecated into what was basically a plastic bag taped to oneā€™s butt. But the shuttles had a more advanced system, officially called the Waste Collection System (but at the time unofficially called ā€œCrippenā€™s Crapper,ā€ after Robert Crippen, who was then head of the astronaut program). I spent most of my time there with the fixed-base simulator, which was located in a big room in (I think) Building 5 of Johnson Space Center. The cockpit part of the simulator was raised above the floor, so that you had to climb a ladder to get into it. (Presumably this will change in a museum exhibition.) But there was really no security preventing anyone from entering the cockpit. Weirdly, though, the toilet simulator was behind a locked door, just below the cockpit. It was explained to me that one used the toilet by sitting down in such a way as to make an airtight seal with the surface of the seat, and then once you defecated, a vacuum system would suck the feces into the chamber. So the simulator had a camera down the hole that one could use to practice oneā€™s aim, without of course actually depositing anything. I was just amused by the idea that the toilet simulator seemed to be under tighter control than the flight simulator. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/23 "2011-04-12T21:30:09Z")
ā€œNew York, we have a problemā€ just doesnā€™t roll off the tongue as easy. Plus, decades of jokes will become obsolete! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/24 "2011-04-12T21:33:08Z")
Elections have consequences. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/25 "2011-04-12T21:36:02Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > ā€œNew York, we have a problemā€ just doesnā€™t roll off the tongue as easy. Plus, decades of jokes will become obsolete! ā€œā€˜We have a problemā€™? No, _YOU_ got a problem. Since when is it _MY_ problem?ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/26 "2011-04-12T22:31:19Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > Well, McMinnville didnā€™t get the Shuttle, but they are opening up a bitching Waterpark this summer! > > [Woot!](http://www.evergreenmuseum.org/waterpark/) AND they already have the Spruce Goose! (used to live thereā€¦ my mom and I drove up to the road where they were hauling it in, and apparently got through right before the police blocked it off and thus got a closer look than most anyone else. That thing is HUGE!) ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/27 "2011-04-12T22:36:43Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Not to mention that Edwards AFB was the landing site of like one third of the missions. > > What a stupid fucking OP. Plus JPL is located in Southern California. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/28 "2011-04-12T22:45:45Z")
In a perfect world, weā€™d have had one hell of a lot more than three (or five) shuttles to go around. Certainly Houston is deserving of one. So are one hell of a lot more than two other places. Themā€™s the breaks. The only one Iā€™d put on the must-have list is the Smithsonian. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/29 "2011-04-12T22:48:42Z")
Plus, there are a lot of _people_ in Southern California. Surely the number of people who will see the things we put in museums has to be worth at least a little in the calculus of where to put them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/30 "2011-04-12T22:56:25Z")
I would say the top three spots should be the Smithsonian, Kennedy Space Center, and Johnson Space Center. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/31 "2011-04-12T22:57:34Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Plus JPL is located in Southern California. Yeah, but rumor has it they outsource all their important work. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/32 "2011-04-12T22:59:38Z")
Sorry, I thought this was the thread for complaining about local public transportation optionsā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/33 "2011-04-12T23:29:48Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Well, since this IS the pit and I am already going to hell a dozen times over I will point out Texas already has the Columbia. Not really. They picked up all of the pieces they could find and took them away. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/34 "2011-04-12T23:32:16Z")
> [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > Not really. They picked up all of the pieces they could find and took them away. Cue Foghorn Leghorn voice. That was a joke son. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/35 "2011-04-13T00:09:42Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Well, since this IS the pit and I am already going to hell a dozen times over I will point out Texas already has the Columbia. I am too embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to get that. ā˜¹ ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/36 "2011-04-13T00:52:54Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Well, since this IS the pit and I am already going to hell a dozen times over I will point out Texas already has the Columbia. Youā€™re my hero. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/37 "2011-04-13T01:34:24Z")
Thereā€™s some scrap Burans floating around out there. How about one of those? ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/38 "2011-04-13T01:45:34Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Plus JPL is located in Southern California. \ JPL doesnā€™t do manned missions. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/39 "2011-04-13T02:30:03Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > \ JPL doesnā€™t do manned missions. Thatā€™s why they really, really need a space shuttle! ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126/40 "2011-04-13T02:38:03Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Thatā€™s why they really, really need a space shuttle! I just have visions of all the JPL people ā€œtouringā€ a donated Shuttle like people who are house hunting. Its so big! And look at this! You know what we could put over there! Thereā€™s even another room here! Can we afford this?! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-just-wrong-no-shuttle-in-houston/578126.md?page=3)