Welcome home, Discovery!

This morning, the Space Shuttle Discovery made its last flight, albeit atop a modified Boeing-747. The 747 (NASA's N905NA), along with a T-38 jet, Discovery made its way from Kennedy Space Center early this morning up to Washington, D.C. The shuttle made its farewell tour around the Nation's Capital before landing at Dulles International Airport. Later this week it'll be brought to its retirement home at the Udvar-Hazy Museum in Dulles.

When Jon and I arrived in Dulles this morning, the parking lot at the Udvar-Hazy Museum filled just a few cars ahead of us. We didn't quite know where we were going and ended up following some cars to Sully Park just across Rt-28. In the end, I think we made out better here because I believe the cars at the museum got a view of the underside of the plane, whereas we got to see the side view.





The first fly-by came before 10am as they were giving Discovery a sneak preview of her new home.


Then off she flew to DC, and made it back to Dulles around quarter to 11 for a second fly-by.


She looped back up and around, this time with landing gear down and gave the crowds one more view before landing at IAD. People clapped and cheered, and it was a bittersweet moment for a couple of space lovers like Jon and I.












(Also, this was my 100th blog post! Yay!)