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Nicole Stott, STS-133 Astronaut: I'm not going to lie to you, I'm feeling a little sad because
I think it's a little bit like watching somebody leave home.
NARRATOR: Space shuttle Discovery began a new mission as it left
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida destined for the Smithsonian's
National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington, D.C.
Discovery's flyout from Kennedy on Tuesday, April 17, 2012,
began several days earlier when the shuttle, equipped with an
aerodynamic tail cone over its three main engines,
was rolled out of the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building for the last time.
It was towed about two miles to the Shuttle Landing Facility where
NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified 747, was already waiting.
Technicians who had prepped shuttles many times before for cross-country
ferry flights once again took their stations inside the mate-demate device at
Kennedy to carefully hoist the 83-ton Discovery and place it gingerly on the 747.
The combination was pushed away from the steel stacking structure and
spent the day as the center of appreciation for employees and
NASA officials who came out to see the spacecraft one last time in its operational environment.
Some of the astronauts of Discovery's last mission,
STS-133, came back to Kennedy to see the shuttle's departure.
STOTT: I think this has been Discovery's home for a long time,
but I think the Smithsonian's going to take beautiful care of her as well,
so I look forward to taking my family up there sometime and seeing her on display.
NARRATOR: Space shuttles routinely impressed people with their performances,
and even flying through the air on a 747 inspires a certain "gee-***" notion even among astronauts.
Steve Bowen, STS-133 Astronaut: Once you get over the shock of it going away for the last time,
you can't not look at that combination and go, "Wow! How does that fly?"
NARRATOR: The 747 and its precious shuttle cargo are going to give many more the
chance to see the orbiter as it flies up the east coast to the nation's capital.
Jeff Moultrie, SCA Commander/Pilot: We're doing a series of flyovers starting here at Kennedy and
we're doing one at Washington, D.C. and we want to do the best job that
we can with a lot of eyes watching us on this delivery.
NARRATOR: Retired after more than 25 years of space flight,
Discovery will take a centerpiece position in the Smithsonian's preeminent museum of aerospace accomplishments.
It will testify to the shuttle fleet's accomplishments and inspire future space explorers.
Discovery will go on public display in its new home April 19, two days after leaving Kennedy.