14 DAY TRIAL // The space shuttle Discovery has left the NASA Kennedy Space Center for the last time today, April 17. Attached to the last Shuttle Aircraft Carrier still in active duty, the orbiter is currently on its way to the Washington Dulles International Airport, in Virginia.
On April 19, it will be officially turned over to the Chantilly, Va.-based Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. This location was selected by NASA to be the spacecraft's final resting place, where it will be permanently exhibited.
Discovery, a 29-year-old veteran of the Space Shuttle Program, is the first of NASA's trio of orbiters – alongside Atlantis and Endeavor – to depart the KSC permanently. The other two spacecraft will follow suit by the end of this year, Universe Today reports.
Keep an eye on this space for updates on Discovery's trip to its new home.