Space Shuttle Discovery Lands in DC While Shuttle Enterprise Preps for Flight to New York

Yesterday, the Space Shuttle Discovery touched down at the Washington Dulles Airport, riding on the back of a Boeing 747 aircraft designated as the SCA or Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The final flight for Discovery was a relocation flight, for the now retired space shuttle, to its new home at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center located next to the airport

With Shuttle Discovery now taking its place at the museum, the Shuttle Enterprise, which had been on display at the museum will now be flown piggy-back on the SCA to a new home on the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. Enterprise was the first shuttle in the NASA fleet and was used only for drop tests in the early 1970’s.

Shuttle Enterprise is scheduled to fly over the New York metro area April 23 making relative low flights over the area, between 9:30 and 11:30 am, before landing at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport.

According to NASA, the exact route and timing of the flight depend on weather and operational constraints. If all goes as planned, the aircraft is expected to fly near a variety of landmarks in the metropolitan area, including the Statue of Liberty and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

Once the Enterprise is “demated” from the SCA 747, it will be transported by a barge that will be moved by tugboat up the Hudson River to the Intrepid museum in June.

Viewers can watch the relocation of Space Shuttle Enterprise and other NASA events here with a live feed from NASA TV: