Space Shuttle Discovery Makes Final Flight … On A Jumbo Jet!
We made an early start today to watch as space shuttle Discovery, NASA’s fleet leader and the world’s most flown spacecraft, lifted off for the last time to be delivered to the Smithsonian for its permanent display.
Discovery took off riding piggyback on a NASA Shuttle Carrier aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, from Kennedy Space Center just after dawn at 6:58 a.m. ET. She departed the runway and headed south along the Florida coastline and beach to give the public a last chance to see the shuttle in flight. It was a bittersweet moment as she came into view.
We were stationed at Patrick Air Force Base and it was the perfect location as Discovery flew by and then made a sweeping circle back over the Base before heading north for a 3.5 hour journey to Washington. The spacecraft will be displayed in Virginia at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Here’s some video:
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