Space Shuttle Discovery Prepares For Final Flight… To The Smithsonian
The Space Shuttle Discovery will be making its final flight tomorrow morning, but the legendary spacecraft won’t be leaving the atmosphere. The NASA space plane will get a piggyback ride from a jumbo jet as it’s transported for storage at the Smithsonian.
Space.com reports that Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to leave NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the final time tomorrow morning aboard a Boeing 747 jet. The shuttle will arrive in Washington, D.C., and will then be transported on Thursday to a museum hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is part of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.
The Discovery spent approximately 365 total days in space. It made 39 spaceflights, the last of which came in March 2011 as NASA ended its 30-year shuttle program.
Stephanie Stilson, who has been working with the Discovery for more than a decade, said:
“I think the vehicle itself and its capability is so impressive… It can launch in the vertical and land on the horizontal; it’s able to dock with the International Space Station. So many great things have happened that it’s going to be remembered for, and the Smithsonian and other locations will do a good job of telling people about that.”
According to Space.com, fans of the Discovery may be able to catch one final glimpse of it tomorrow during it’s flight. NASA will be taking the shuttle on a low air tour over the National Mall, Reagan National Airport and the National Harbor.
Tags : discovery, nasa, Smithsonian, Space Shuttle, space shuttle discovery, space shuttle discovery smithsonian
Posted: April 16, 2012
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Apr 17, 2012
is this the end of as dream. the conquest of space was a dream many of my generation shared as we grew up in the 1950's and '60's. To stop the manned exploration of space is about the worst decision ever made by an American president. In a sense, we are dooming mankind to eventual extinction because when our sun dies, the human race dies. we need to continue manned exploration of the cosmos.
Apr 17, 2012
this is another gift to the Russians from Obama. we will be paying them millions to ferry our astronauts to the manned space lab. The Russians stand for the opposite of most of what Americans believe. why we would put our manned space program in their hands is beyond comprehension. we could have financed a new shuttle instead of giving 800 million to solyndria to go bankrupt. shame on the Obama administration.
Apr 17, 2012
That would be true if it were not for the fact that President Obama is NOT paying the Russians but instead signed a$1.5 billion contract with SpaceX and the first Dragon capsule launching at the end of April. The second capsule along with the company's Falcon 9 rocket will be equipped for crew transport.
Apr 17, 2012
Did you get your information from popsicle stick trivia? President Obama has only shifted low earth orbit missions into the private sector. In April he called for plans to visit asteroids by the mid 2020s, flights to orbit Mars by the mid 2030s and manned landings shortly after.
Obama's plan shifts low-earth orbit plans to the private sector in an effort to allow NASA to focus on deep space exploration.
This entire argument was taken out of a right wing handbook based on certain budgetary cuts that came about from dated and ineffective programs.