Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery arrives in Washington D.C. Smithsonian museum
Space Shuttle Discovery Enters Smithsonian for Museum Display - Yahoo! News
The Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery, the longest-serving orbiter in the Space Shuttle fleet, flew on its final flight yesterday, piggy-back style on top of a modified Boeing 747, to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which will be its new permanent home, where it will be displayed for all to see. Previously, the museum was the home of the Enterprise, an orbiter that was only used for air and landing tests, and never made it to space. That orbiter will be moved to the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space museum in New York City, and Discovery will take its place at the Smithsonian museum. Meanwhile, Atlantis will stay at the Kennedy Space Center's Visitor's complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Endeavour will head to the California Space Center in Los Angeles.
Discovery was the longest serving orbiter in the fleet, with 27 years of service, having completed 39 missions, spent 365 days (which is equivalent to approximately one full year) in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled an incredible grand total of 148,221,675 miles. It was also chosen to be the "return to flight" orbiter twice, after both the Challenger and Columbia disasters.
Now that the Space Shuttle program came to a close last year, after 30 years of service, the orbiters will now be on display at museums on opposite ends of the country for all to see.
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