Published by Kirby on 17 Apr 2012
Pictures of Space Shuttle Discovery Leaving Space Coast for Last Time
Kennedy Space Center, FL – The Space Coast said good bye to one of our most famous residence, Space Shuttle Discovery, on Tuesday, April 17. Discovery was flown over head along the Space Coast one final time. Discovery took off from the runway at KSC at first light, around 7 am, and then the orbiter and Shuttle Carrier Aircraft flew over Kennedy Space Center and the KSC Visitor Complex, headed south to around Patrick AFB then turned around and flew back up the coast along Cocoa Beach & Cape Canaveral and then fly out for D.C. Even though the shuttles are scheduled to flew out there will still be rocket launches to enjoy.
On April 10, a very special plane landed at the Kennedy Space Center, it was a modified Boeing 747 jet airliner, originally manufactured for commercial use, it was turned into a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, by NASA and designated NASA 905. It was here to prepare to ferry the shuttle Discovery on her flight to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Va.
Discovery was the third in NASA’s fleet of orbiters after the Columbia and Challenger. It was launched for the first time on Aug. 30, 1984, completed 39 missions, including the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope, and landed at KSC for the last time on March 9, 2011.
Discovery will be placed on permanent public display in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.
