Goodbye to the Shuttle Discovery - Moment in History

[Second Hand Pat]

My daughter was at the beach this morning to say goodbye to the space shuttle Discovery as it did a flyby before heading north to Washington DC.

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[Second Hand Pat]

The "Official" pictures...

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad95/Second_Hand_Pat/Goodbye_To_Discover/IMG_0801.jpg
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[Discus-n00b]

Very awesome sight!

[Second Hand Pat]

Very awesome sight!

But sad too Matt, I will miss watching them launch from my front yard :(

[CrazyAngels]

Thanks for sharing this set of historical pictures Pat. I will also miss not seeing the launches and landings when I'm there to support our missions.. Most people think watching launches can get old, but being in the trade myself I can tell you first hand that each and everyone is like the first time for us. We truly love the business and care deeply about what we do, many times to the point that we miss many important things in our personal lives. I've missed B-days, weddings and a few graduations along the many years, but our families understand that we do it for our country.

God Bless America..

Sure gonna miss the old days..

[Second Hand Pat]

Jorge, the launches never get old. My dad worked on the shuttle systems as a EE at Harris and I have a brother in law who worked the shuttle launches and supports active launches today. Ditto on the good old days.

[zimmjeff]

very nice pics thanks

[Second Hand Pat]

very nice pics thanks

Thanks Jeff

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Awesome post Pat. Thank you and your daughter for sharing this incredible sight.

[Second Hand Pat]

I received an email from a friend which contained pictures of the Space Shuttle Discovery flyby and it's trip to Washington DC and beyond. The original email from the person who took the pictures from the chase plane I believe. This person also worked at the Cape so the captions are in his words.

[Second Hand Pat]

Here are some more in-flight pictures of Shuttles Discovery and Enterprise getting carried to their new homes on the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, AKA the SCA.

Here are Discovery and the SCA on the KSC Runway early morning on Tuesday April 17th

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And here they are in the air over the KSC runway heading north

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The "stack" has now turned back to the south and here they are passing the VAB and Complex 39 area. that is Pad A to the left of the VAB at the ocean and Playalinda Beach a bit further north (to the left).

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Here they are leaving the KSC area making a banking right turn to the south over the Banana River. KSC and Merritt Island is to the right and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is to the left.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad95/Second_Hand_Pat/4.jpg

[Second Hand Pat]

Heading south, the duo passed over Port Canaveral. It's a Tuesday morning so there were no cruise ships in port. The 528 (Beachline/Beeline) causeway is directly under and behind the aircraft and the 520 causeway is just coming into view at the left. That's Merritt Island and the Indian River behind the aircraft.

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As they continued south, here they are passing over Cocoa Beach, the Banana River, and the "Thousand Islands" area of Cocoa Beach. The narrow strip of land behind the aircraft is south Merritt Island, with the Indian River beyond that. The large area of water in the distance to the west is the St. Johns River.

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After its pass over Cocoa Beach, the aircraft turned around near Patrick AFB and headed back to the north. This picture is with the sunrise and the Atlantic ocean in the background.

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Finishing up its turn to the north, we see the aircraft heading north over the Indian River with the narrow strip of south Merritt Island and Satellite Beach in the background.

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[Second Hand Pat]

Here we see the duo from above heading north over Brevard County.

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In what I think is the most dramatic of all these shots, we see the two aircraft in a banking right turn over the HMF area of central KSC headed towards the VAB in the distance. Below and to the left of the aircraft are the O&C and Space Station Processing Buildings.

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The aircraft are now heading north and passing the Complex 39 area, with the VAB in the center, and just this side of it my last pre-retirement "home" on KSC, the six story Operations Support Building, the center of Shuttle ops and management for many years. In the background and to the right of the VAB is Pad A, the site of most of Discovery's flights into space. Pad B is hidden behind the VAB.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad95/Second_Hand_Pat/11.jpg

Now climbing to gain altitude for the trip to Washington, the two aircraft leave Brevard County.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad95/Second_Hand_Pat/12.jpg

[Second Hand Pat]

Leaving the KSC area, the chase plane got a great picture of the NASA DC-9 "Pathfinder" aircraft flying with the "stack".

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When the aircraft got to Washington a few hours later, they did some spectacular fly bys of our nation’s capital, but I somehow cannot find any of those pictures. However, the following were taken from the ground by friends as the stack approached Dulles.

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[Second Hand Pat]

Here, in a spectacular lineup, are the SCA, Discovery, and one of the chase planes on final approach into Dulles. Think it created a traffic jam? Notice the firemen standing atop their truck in the center to watch!

(Truly Awesome Picture).
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[Second Hand Pat]

Once on the ground at Dulles, crews rapidly went to work to demate Discovery from the top of the 747 SCA. Here are a few pictures of the overnight work. First, moving to the demate area where the cranes were ready.

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Placing the lifting sling on Discovery

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Lifting Discovery off the back of the SCA

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Backing the SCA out from under Discovery

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And, finally, lowering discovery to the ground, lowering the landing gear and preparing to roll Discovery to the location of the official acceptance ceremony

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[Second Hand Pat]

On the morning of Thursday April 19th, Enterprise (on the left) and Discovery were parked nose to nose for the transfer ceremony. Notice that Enterprise already has it's Tail Cone on in preparation for its Ferry Flight to New York City.

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After lifting and mating Enterprise to the SCA, it was flown to NYC, with flybys over many locations in the city. This is, of course, passing Central Park.

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Finally we see the stack flying south over the Hudson River with the city in the background and the Intrepid Museum below (Enterprise's new home, where the Aircraft Carrier Intrepid can be seen at the pier). First the aircraft headed to JFK airport and landed so Enterprise could be removed from the SCA. It will then be placed on a barge and transported up the Hudson to its new home at the museum.

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Hope you enjoyed the Shuttle travelogue.

[Teshi]

I did, Thank you.

[ockyra215]

Very Cool Pat, Didnt even know this was happening. Very cool pics!

[rubinsteinnyc]

i have pix of it at JFK cargo terminal, was pickin up my Godmother from a nearby terminal :)

[Second Hand Pat]

I did, Thank you.


Very Cool Pat, Didnt even know this was happening. Very cool pics!

Thanks Margaret and Dave. This still makes me sad.

[Second Hand Pat]

i have pix of it at JFK cargo terminal, was pickin up my Godmother from a nearby terminal :)

Can you post it?

[johnnathan]

Thanks for Post.. interesting post with nice pic..

[Second Hand Pat]

Thanks for Post.. interesting post with nice pic..

Thanks John