On Tuesday the Discovery Shuttle was ‘strapped’ to a Boeing 747 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and flown north to storage at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Approximately 2,000 individuals gathered on the National Mall to watch the shuttle as it was transported via Boeing 747.
This shuttle was named after the 18th-century British vessel HMS Discovery which was captained by James Cook. The name is fitting; over a period of 27 years the shuttle flew 39 successful missions, orbiting the earth for a cumulative 365 days.
Originally launched in August of 1984, the shuttle flew in space for the last time in March of 2011. Tuesday’s flight marks a turning point in US Space Exploration.
