Space Shuttle fly by

[Swerd]

I just saw the retired Space Shuttle Discovery as it flew by on the back of a 747. It circled the Washington area twice at low altitude on its way to the museum near Dulles Airport. No photos, it came and went too quickly.

The end of an era.

 

[Adam]

The end of an era.

True, but commercial space flights seem to be a real possibility in the near future.

Also, it's not like the government has completely given up on shuttle designs.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

pics here:

Discovery flies over the D.C. area - The Washington Post
Discovery Mated To Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (KSC-2012-2292) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[Swerd]

Thanks for link to Washington Post photos. They're good.

 

[redgirl]

Good point, Adam, (generally speaking) things seem to do better when they are established by the government. They have plenty of money to finance the start-up and don't have nearly the risk since they can just print more money if they run out.

Now that the foundation has been built, it will be easy to build off of it. I'm sure Lockheed Martin knows quite a bit about it all anyway. Lockheed Martin did a ton for NASA anyway, I'm sure they won't mind offering the same technologies and/or services to private companies. Who knows, maybe the government will offer subsidies and tax breaks for companies who work in developing similar technologies. That's not even considering private investors and maybe companies from different countries working together instead of trying to beat each other.

 

[majorloser]

I took pictures this morning when it departed and flew over Patrick AFB. Unfortunately you'll have to wait till I get home since I'm blocked from Photobucket at work.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Unfortunately you'll have to wait till I get home since I'm blocked from Photobucket at work.

Damn these [strike]mods[/strike],[strike]SysAdmins[/strike], [strike]The Management[/strike] THE MAN !

 

[majorloser]

Damn these [strike]mods[/strike],[strike]SysAdmins[/strike], [strike]The Management[/strike] THE MAN !

Yeah, they suck.
I'm surprised I haven't been blocked from AH, yet.

 

[Adam]

Yeah, they suck.
I'm surprised I haven't been blocked from AH, yet.

Dude, that's what smart phones and 3G/4G tablets are for.

 

[majorloser]

Here's a pretty good video from our local news:

http://www.floridatoday.com/videonetwork/1567284572001/Space-shuttle-Discovery-leaves-Brevard

 

[majorloser]

Dude, that's what smart phones and 3G/4G tablets are for.

Funny, we have a space program here but we don't have 4G.

 

[Adam]

Here's a pretty good video from our local news:

http://www.floridatoday.com/videonetwork/1567284572001/Space-shuttle-Discovery-leaves-Brevard

Excellent - thanks!

I'm still in awe that the shuttle has enough power and lift to haul around a 747.

 

[majorloser]

I'm still in awe that the shuttle has enough power and lift to haul around a 747.

Uh, okay......

 

[ratm]

It ALWAYS amazes me how something that big can take flight.

 

[j_garcia]

It ALWAYS amazes me how something that big can take flight.

Strap giant booster rockets to pretty much anything and it will fly

 

[majorloser]

It took off this moring right at sunrise and headed south down the coast. There was one T-38 as escort. The sun hadn't had a chance to clear through the clouds on the eastern horizon of the Atlantic.

Once it went past it made a turn around Patrick AFB and headed back north.

 

[Rubicon_Joey]

^^^And that kids, is how private jets are made..

 

[Adam]

I bet that this is going to be featured on NASA's astronomy picture of the day tomorrow.

 

[GoFastr]

Cool. I wonder how long it will take them to get it on display at the museum?
I'm in DC for a week at the end of the month and would like to go see it.

 

[majorloser]

Cool. I wonder how long it will take them to get it on display at the museum?
I'm in DC for a week at the end of the month and would like to go see it.

I wouldn't think it would take too long since they are replacing another shuttle, the Enterprise.