After 30 years of excitement, tragedy, and exploration that no other country matched, NASA’s Space Shuttle program is officially retired. As a space geek, I find the retirement sad, but NASA promises new programs for astronauts in the near-term future. Via The Atlantic’s inFocus:
Space Shuttle Discovery’s Final Flight
Apr 18, 2012 |
Having last traveled to low Earth orbit in March 2011, NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery took to the skies one last time yesterday, piggybacking on a modified Boeing 747. The shuttle left Florida and landed just outside of Washington, D.C., where it will join the collection at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Discovery, the fleet leader of NASA’s orbiters, flew 39 successful missions over 27 years, accumulating 365 total days in space. Tomorrow, a welcome ceremony is planned at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
At the Shuttle Landing Facility, operations are under way at the mate-demate device to lift Discovery on top of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, on April 14, 2012. The device, known as the MDD, is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist a shuttle off the ground and position it onto the back of the aircraft. (NASA/Kim Shiflett)
Its final flight complete, the space shuttle Discovery, sits on the Dulles International Airport tarmac under blue skies, on April 17, 2012. Discovery will be lifted from the carrier aircraft shortly, and will towed to the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center for display. (Reuters/Gary Cameron)
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