14 DAY TRIAL // After leaving the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, and flying over the US Capitol on April 17, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) 905 landed at the Washington Dulles International Airport, carrying the orbiter Discovery.
Yesterday, April 18, it was turned over to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's F. Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Virginia, during an official ceremony. More than 6,000 people turned out to see the iconic space shuttle completing its final flight.
The image above shows a massive crane getting ready to take Discovery off the SCA, so that engineers can prepare it for transport to its reserved spot as a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian.
SCA 905 only has one more flight to complete, when it takes the space shuttle Endeavour from Florida to the California Science Center, near Los Angeles, later this year. Atlantis will remain at the KSC Visitor Center.