Space shuttle Discovery has one last mission to complete a flight to the Smithsonian Institution near Washington, D.C.
On Tuesday, April 17, 2012 we can all look to the sky and watch her final voyage.
picking her up to go atop the jet
The plane and jet will make a farewell flight over Cape Canaveral before heading north. The pair also will swoop over the nation's capital, including the National Mall, before landing in Virginia.
I'm proud to say I've seen both Discovery and her mother plane flying over the sky to land at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas to refuel for it's trip back to Florida. It was a sight to see.
Then another time watched Discovery jet into space from the Kennedy Space Center. It's plumes of smoke taking her up into space.
Space center workers arrived by the busloads Monday at the old shuttle landing strip, where the jet was parked with Discovery bolted on top. Security officers, firefighters, former shuttle workers and even astronauts all posed for pictures in front of Discovery.
The six astronauts who flew Discovery's final space trip a year ago were on hand to bid Discovery goodbye.
Discovery first launched in 1984 and flew 39 times in space, more than any other shuttle. It is the oldest of NASA's three surviving space shuttles and the first to head to a museum.
It will go on display at the Smithsonian's hangar at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, replacing Enterprise, the shuttle prototype that never made it to space but was used in landing tests in the late 1970s. Enterprise is bound for New York City's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
It's the end of an era in our countries space program but from what I read a new space ship/shuttle is in the making and in a few years we will continue to seek out space once again.
The "Old Girl" is going to her final resting place after a
Job well done!
two last photos, taken today.
there she go's
NASA Photos
1 comment:
That makes me feel old! I remember when an earlier shuttle stopped in Oklahoma City, at Tinker AB, on its way east. What a thrill that was!
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