** The Discovery shuttle leaves Cape Canaveral
aboard the back of the modified Boeing 747
that first brought it to Florida in 1983.**
Key Takeaways:
NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery departed Cape Canaveral on a modified Boeing 747 for its new home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
Thousands of spectators gathered for a bittersweet farewell and a final fly-over by the shuttle, which completed a record 39 missions, including launching the Hubble telescope.
Discovery is the first of the retired shuttle fleet to move to a museum, with Endeavour destined for Los Angeles and Atlantis remaining in Florida.
NASA’s Discovery shuttle took off from Kennedy Space Center aboard the back of a modified Boeing 747 on Tuesday for one final departure from Cape Canaveral as it heads for its resting place at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Close to 2,000 spectators coalesced near the runway to bid NASA’s oldest shuttle farewell and witness the spacecraft’s daybreak takeoff.
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