The space shuttle Discovery riding atop a 747 took several victory laps around the Washington area Tuesday morning, including several thrilling flyovers of McLean.
The "spectacular aerial tour" that wowed office workers and residents took about 45 minutes before the shuttle landed to crowds, applause and tears at Dulles Airport, the Washington Post reported.
The shuttle literally flew into the pages of history. Its new address: the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum.
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Its nearly 30-year life spans triumphs and tragedies:
1.This was the world's first reusable spacecraft. Its mission to ferry astronauts to build the International Space Station. Starting with Columbia and continuing with Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, the spacecraft has carried people into orbit repeatedly, launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge research and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station.
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2. Between the first launch on April 12, 1981, and the final landing on July 21, 2011, 30 years, NASA's space shuttle fleet flew 135 missions.
Feb. 1, 2003. Columbia Space Shuttle: broke up on reentering Earth's atmosphere on its way to Kennedy Space Center, killing all 7 crew members. They were: Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon. Foam insulation fell from the shuttle during launch, damaging the left wing. On reentry, hot gases entered the wing, leading to the disintegration of the shuttle.
4. Discovery, the third of NASA's fleet of reusable spaceships, arrived at Kennedy Space Center in November 1983. On its first mission, August 30, 1984, it carried aloft three communications satellites for deployment by its astronaut crew.
Other Discovery milestones include the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990.
5. Discovery is named for two famous sailing ships; one sailed by Henry Hudson in 1610-11 to search for a northwest passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the other by James Cook on a voyage during which he discovered the Hawaiian Islands.
List of Events shuttle events at Smithsonian Air and Space Museum this week.
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