Special Report:The Transfer of Discovery

For more than a generation,the space shuttle program helped define America's aerospace industry and national aspirations.Tomorrow,the workhorse of the Space Transportation System,space shuttle Discovery,is to be flown to Dulles International Airport in Virginia on back of a specially modified NASA Boeing 747 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Once on the ground,the shuttle will be towed to its new home,the Smithsonian Air&Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly,Virginia,where it will be on permanent display.The remarkable feat of engineering and aviation involved in the transport mission will be repeated two more times after that to take the remaining shuttles to their respective museum homes in New York and Los Angeles.
There was quite a competition between cities to land one of the historic space planes in their museums.The prestige of such an acquisition and the potential for associated tourism dollars were impossible to resist. Now it has been determined where they will go,each 747 journey will be received with considerable excitement by the locals.Many D.C. area residents are pretty worked up about the prospect of viewing the shuttle/747 combination flying over their home.Few got to see the shuttles in person when they were in service,so this will be their only chance to see one airborne in some fashion.There could be clogged roads and parking lots-and perhaps some disappointment if they don't get quite the view they are hoping for.In the decades to come,however,they will get the chance to more fully appreciate this major chapter of history by viewing Discovery still charred and dinged from its thirty-ninth and final space mission,from February 24-March 9 of 2011,on display quite near to them.
In the link below this post,you can read a NASA article and view two NASA videos about the background and particulars of the singular transport process that will continue unfolding tomorrow.
The shuttle/747 piggyback ride is slated to begin in Florida tomorrow at 7 am Eastern,with estimated arrival time at Dulles International of between 10 and 11 am.On Thursday,a formal outdoor transfer ceremony will occur at the Udvar-Hazy Center nearby,beginning at 11 am.
Update:The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft carrying Discovery arrived in the D.C. area at around 9:45 am,quite a bit earlier than anticipated for unknown reasons.The views of the event were spectacular,both in person and on local television.WRC-TV,the local NBC affiliate,broadcast extensive uninterrupted coverage.Their camera work was exceptional,and the commentary was very good and fittingly enthusiastic.Overall,it seemed that the whole region became children again and no work whatsoever was accomplished on this memorable morning.
Update 2:A ceremony with music by the U.S. Marine Corps took place at 11 am Thursday.The shuttle Discovery was brought nose to nose with the prototype shuttle Enterprise to symnolize the exchange that is taking place.The Enterprise will be flown to New York on Monday,April 23 to Kennedy Airport for eventual installation on the Intrepid Sea Air&Space Museum there this summer.Discovery will be eased into the hanger at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport tonight for permanent display.Fourteen of Discovery's former commanders posed in their astronaut uniforms before the two spacecraft as hundreds of citizens snapped photos of the historic meeting.
This blog supports such inspiration for study of the STEM disciplines:Science,Technology,Engineering and Mathematics.

Leading NASA Astronaut Janice Voss

Most of us hadn't heard of the American astronaut Janice Voss,even though she was one of the leading space explorers of all time.Dr.Voss just died of breast cancer at the age of 55.Fortunately,her work will be continued by those she influenced at the Johnson Space Center,on the International Space Station and elsewhere.She was instrumental in the digital mapping of the earth's surface,as well as the successful search for many distant planets.Her career,then,ranged from near earth studies to the reaches of deep space.
With her five space shuttle missions-she was one of six female astronauts to fly that much-Janice was one of the most experienced space travelers in the world.May her nation remember her,or at least get acquainted with her,with pride and gratitude for the not inconsiderable risks she took for NASA and us all.

Shop Talk

Hello,German pilots.I reached out to you recently.I am thinking about flight this week,as the space shuttle is to be retired in 2010,but there is some talk of President-elect Obama extending its lifespan.He should,because it is unfortunate to have a gap between American spaceflight programs.We would have to rely on the Russians alone for some years to supply the International Space Station-at a time when it is just coming into its own.It is impossible to tell for sure when the follow-on to the shuttle will be ready.All kinds of delays can occur in this complex endeavor.The culture of spaceflight will be lost to some extent because one of its major participants will be partially idled for a period of years.It would be something of a setback for everyone,a loss of momentum.The public needs to be involved in space,but that is difficult without ongoing launches.