April 17, 2012—In its final journey to its permanent museum home, NASA's space shuttle Discovery makes a flyover above the U.S. capital. NASA coordinated with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to navigate through the restricted air space over Washington, D.C.
NASA's space shuttle Discovery made its final flight to a permanent resting place near Washington, DC.
Viewed by thousands of onlookers as it made a historic flyover in the skies above the nation's capital, it is the first veteran space shuttle to be delivered to a museum. With partly sunny skies, as part of its flight path, the orbiter flew over the National Mall near the Washington Monument. NASA worked with the FAA to navigate through the restricted air space over Washington, DC.
As it has before, Discovery piggy-backed aboard a retro-fitted 747 for the flight.
It was loaded up at Kennedy Space Center last week for its final journey.
NASA has maintained two 747s for this duty. Known as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, the Boeing jetliners were originally built for commercial use.
At Kennedy, the orbiters are hoisted by what is called the Mate-Demate Device, which mates them to the 747s for transport flights.
Even though the commercial jets are stripped on the inside to reduce weight, NASA says with the added tonnage of the shuttle on top, and the drag it creates in the air, the 747 uses double the fuel per hour than the same 747 flying solo.
Shuttle Discovery's new home is the National Air and Space Museum at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia.
Discovery touched down at the end of its final journey, after flying 39 space missions over nearly thirty years. Its last space mission was in 2011
to the International Space Station.
The shuttle Enterprise will be on display in New York City, the shuttle Endeavour in Los Angeles, and shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
