Watch Space Shuttle Discovery Arrive in DC Area on April 17

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Examiner

Be sure to put Tuesday morning, April 17 on your calendar, and get outside to watch for flyovers of the space shuttle Discovery, as it arrives to its new home, the National Air and Space Museum's (NASM) Dulles location; the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The shuttle will land at 11:00AM at Dulles Airport; making flyovers around the city in the hour or so before.

Area residents may remember when the prototype shuttle Enterprise arrived in 1985, flying around the Beltway to the delight of all who saw it, including myself. This arrival will offer similar views, however the exact path will not be released in advance.

The best view for the landing will be in the NASM's parking lot. The museum advises people to arrive early to get in--the lot opens at 8:00 AM, but cars will line up much earlier.

Arrival Details: http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/discovery/activity-detail.cfm?id=3783
....

The next event to watch will be April 23, when Enterprise takes off from Dulles for its new home in New York City.

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/space-transportation-in-washington-dc/watch-space-shuttle-discovery-arrive-dc-area-on-april-17

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I saw the flyover back in 1985.

It's too much to hope that they'd be flying this thing directly to the Air and Space Museum on the Mall. A 747 squeezing in between the Capitol and the Washington Monument: THAT would make the evening news. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the remote facility.

Well, you can't have everything.

[elleng]

1. They moved lots of stuff OUT of the Air and Space Museum, I think.

Out of SPACE!!!

[bpj62]

2. Udvar-Hazy is not a remote facility

Maybe in 1985 Dulles International Airport was still considered a remote location but not anymore. Fairfax County which bounds the airport on 2 sides has a population of over 1.5 million alone. The Shuttle cannot fit inside of the Air and Space museum on the mall because it is too big. Udvar Hazy was specifally built to handle large objects such as the Space Shuttle and the Concorde and the Enola Gay. I live 10 minute from the Udvar Hazy facility and everytime I have guests in town I take them to the museum.

[Kolesar]

3. Sounds like fun! eom

[Neurotica]

6. I'm your neighbor-watched Discovery from Rt. 28 overpass-amazing!

My husband and I met on the Frying Pan Road overpass -- huge crowd. Had a hard time getting there. Cars parked everywhere along the highways. Crowd was cheering. Discovery made one pass -- so close you felt you could almost touch it. Then we saw it loop around to the south and eventually come in for its landing. Wish I had taken my kids out of school...

BTW, we love Udvar Hazy. Wonderful museum.

[mbuch64]

4. If you can go

you really should. I can remember seeing the Enterprise at Atlanta's Hartsfield airport when I was
a kid back in the seventies. You really have to see the 747/shuttle combo to realize how large it really is.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Just watched on tv here in the UK

Just awesome.

[onenote]

7. watched it from the roof of my office downtown

it made around three passes over a half hour. folks were very excited.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. Me too.

It was visible four times. There was a long break after the third pass. I think it might have gone over to Annapolis. On the way back from that, it headed off to Dulles.

[blaze]

12. What fun!

I love being able to watch stuff like this in real life!

Lucky you!

[RebelOne]

9. I would have loved to have seen the flyover firsthand,

but I still got a thrill watching it on TV. Kudos to those pilots who flew the plane. It must have been difficult flying with the weight of the shuttle on the plane.

[Ashgrey77]

10. Sorry, but this is not good.

We've decided to spend our money on companies and perpetual war. A far cry from the hope that the space program instilled in us as young children in the late 70's and early 80's. The space shuttle to me was a symbol of man trying to better, or be better than himself for the good of all mankind. Those days seem to have disappeared to be replaced with everlasting warfare for the welfare of the rich and powerful. Such a great nation we have become, so look to the sky and feel warm and fuzzy when your lost future flys over your head for the last time. The promise of space was a lie, unless you are rich and powerful their dream has never died, but they crushed the common people's dream of space under their capitalist boots.

[onenote]

11. True. I heard an interview on the radio

with a young mother talking about how her child was so excited about the Shuttle flyover and how she had decided she wanted to be an astronaut. The child's mother said she didn't know how to tell her daughter there were no more shuttles or planned manned spaceflights. She could only hope that by the time her daughter is in engineering school that we've recovered our desire and will to explore.