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News [re] Space Shuttle Discovery Fly-Over DC
2012.04.17 12:26
 The space shuttle Discovery passed low over the D.C. area Tuesday morning, drawing spectators to gathering spots atop buildings and aside roads for a glimpse of the onetime workhorse of NASA’s orbiter fleet before it is delivered to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The shuttle, atop a 747, flew over the National Mall, the Washington Monument and downtown D.C. It looped the city around the Capital Beltway in a few lazy passes before landing at Washington Dulles International Airport just after 11 a.m. The spectacle drew crowds of astonished onlookers, some of whom had gathered at sites along the Potomac River and north of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, preselected by the Smithsonian and NASA as viewing points, and others who simply pulled over their cars on area roads to take photographs. Workers downtown could be seen gathered on rooftops and collecting on sidewalks and near windows to glimpse the low-flying craft as it passed. The shuttle flew low enough that the print on the orbiter was easily readable from the ground.“That was a lot more emotional than I thought it was going to be,” said David Choi, a planetary scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center who took the day off to see the arrival at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly.Daniel Pallotts, a Boston resident who drove to the D.C. area with his son, said the spectacle was “more than awe-inspiring, that was awesome. ”The shuttle’s arrival at Dulles marks the first half of an exchange scheduled for Thursday that will see Discovery take up residence at the Udvar-Hazy Center, while the test shuttle Enterprise will be transferred to New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.The Enterprise is scheduled to meet its replacement nose to nose Thursday in a public ceremony. Enterprise was used as a vehicle for a number of tests both in the atmosphere and on the ground, including vibration, system and performance tests. It was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1985.Discovery’s final flight was in February 2011, shortly before the 30-year-old program ended last summer. |
Comment 4
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황규정*65
2012.04.17 12:29
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방준재*70
2012.04.17 12:37
Leaving 30 years behind,
Discovery flew into History
Spectacularly, which we will
Remember. -
이기우*71문리대
2012.04.17 13:27
Dr. Whang, Thanks so much for the the article, picture, and Video.
It was such a moving day today, to see this space shuttle flying for the last time.
There are so many places under the space shuttle belly where apparently burned spots.
So much challenging work this Discovery has done, with so much dedication from tons of people.
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황규정*65
2012.04.18 00:38
The Space Shuttle Discovery is the symbol of American NASA program
and Certainly one of great American prides as well.God Bless! America! KJ
Chantilly, Va., Tuesday, April 17, 2012. After completing 39 missions and spending 365 days in space,
the historic spacecraft will make its final destination at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a Smithsonian
museum, located in Chantilly, Va. on Thursday, April 19th. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)