NASA~ENDEAVOUR, DISCOVERY and ATLANTIS last flights~

[Middle Finger]

Awesome shot! Whenever I see shots like that I get impressed we can electrically power up that much.

[Lady Cop]

ANOTHER SUPER-8 FILM OF CHALLENGER HAS EMERGED. HERE:

http://www.5min.com/Video/Exclusive-New-...-517298688

it's very clear.

details here:

http://main.aol.com/2012/03/09/challenge...latestnews

[Lady Cop]

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER --
Space shuttle Discovery will be the first shuttle to leave NASA's Kennedy Space Center on the road to retirement.

Discovery is set to depart KSC on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747 on Tuesday, April 17. And you have a chance to say goodbye before it heads to its new home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Discovery's final ferry flight will mark the 38^th time it has taken to the air atop NASA 905, the original of two shuttle carrier aircraft. NASA retired its second modified Boeing 747 earlier this year.

NASA 905 is scheduled to fly into Kennedy Space Center from Dryden Flight Research Center in California on April 10. Four days later, Discovery will be lowered onto its back using a specially built crane, designed to load and unload orbiters for their ferry flights.

According to Kennedy Space Center, Discovery and the final crew members to fly aboard the shuttle, will be at KSC in the days leading up to the departure.

Details of the departure are still being finalized, but here's what we know:

Tuesday, April 17, 2012:

Discovery, mounted atop the 747, is scheduled to depart at 7 a.m., weather permitting.
The mated aircraft will leave the KSC landing facility and fly south over Brevard beaches.
At some point, they will loop and do another flyby over the beaches.
KSC intends to then have the aircraft fly near Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and over the KSC Visitor Complex before it heads north to Washington, D.C. for a 10 a.m. landing at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Members of the public and current & former space workers are expected to line the beaches of Brevard County in hopes of getting a glimpse of this historic retirement flight.

An arrival ceremony, including a parade of space shuttle Discovery's former astronaut crew members, is planned for April 19. The event will launch the Smithsonian's four day public festival celebrating the orbiter's addition to the National Collection.

[Lady Cop]

Space shuttle Discovery rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building's high bay 4 to the shuttle landing facility at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, April 14, 2012. Discovery is harnessed to the "mate-demate device" at the shuttle landing facility at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, April 14, 2012, during the rollout of the orbiter from the Vehicle Assembly Building.











A bald eagle takes a perch from another eagle atop a lightpost near the Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral, on Saturday, April 14, 2012.



The Boeing 747 that will carry shuttle Discovery to the Smithsonian

[Lady Cop]

Space Shuttle Discovery was hoisted by a giant crane and mounted on a Boeing 747 Sunday for its last ever journey - a piggyback ride to Washington where it will go on display at the Smithsonian Museum.













The 167,000-pound shuttle rested comfortably atop the modified jetliner Sunday

[Lady Cop]

last liftoff and flyby of the beaches this morning, will fly by monuments in D.C. in a little while.

[Lady Cop]

AWE

Discovery soared over the Washington Monument, the White House and the Capitol today in a high-flying salute to the nation's capital before landing at Virginia's Dulles International Airport on the back of a modified NASA jetliner.

Thousands of stunned onlookers packed the National Mall to watch the pair swoop by.



flyby Cocoa Beach














group of sixth-graders from Macon, Georgia, froze as Shuttle Discovery passed over Washington, D.C.

[Lady Cop]

April 19, 2012: Space Shuttles Enterprise, left, and Discovery meet nose-to-nose at the beginning of a transfer ceremony at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Virginia. Space shuttle Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, traveled total 148,221,675 miles and will take the place of Enterprise at the center to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers at the center. (NASA/Smithsonian

some great photos of Discovery being welcomed at Smithsonian at link.
slideshow--->

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/smit...ml#photo=1

[Lady Cop]

should be seen over NYC in the next half-hour~

NASA's first shuttle orbiter, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, is on its way to Manhattan where it will soar over landmarks in an historic sky show as part of the space agency's process of wrapping up the shuttle program.

The shuttle - which never actually went into space but was a prototype used for tests - has taken off from Dulles International Airport in Virginia for New York, where it will land at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Brooklyn after its city-centre spectacle.

Strapped to the top of a modified 747 Boeing jetliner and flying at low-attitude, the shuttle will fly over the Statue of Liberty, up the Hudson River to the Tappan Zee Bridge and back.

[Lady Cop]

i emailed MF and told him to look up! hahaha








more here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...-City.html

[Lady Cop]

here's a sight New Yorkers don't see every day~~many GREAT shots at link.

The space shuttle Enterprise - named after the spaceship in Star Trek - floated past the Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center on a barge on Wednesday and docked near its new home at a museum on New York's Hudson River.

Crowds of people turned out to see the retired spacecraft make its final approach to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum where it was placed on display atop the World War II aircraft carrier USS Intrepid.

see more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...z1x3tjFQQ6

[Lady Cop]

sad news for NASA today.

U.S. Navy Capt. Alan Poindexter, a retired NASA astronaut, was killed in a water scooter accident in Florida over the weekend.

Poindexter, 51, was with his two sons, 22-year-old Samuel and 26-year-old Zachary, in Little Sabine Bay on Pensacola Beach, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Stan Kirkland. Alan and Samuel Poindexter were thrown into the water when their personal watercraft was rear-ended by Zachary's. All three men were wearing life jackets.

A boater picked up Samuel and Alan Poindexter, who was initially alert and talking before falling unconscious. He was flown to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, where he was pronounced dead.

NASA posted the following to its Facebook page on Sunday night: "The NASA family was sad to learn of the passing of our former friend, and colleague Alan Poindexter who was killed today during a jet ski accident in Florida. Our thought and hearts are with his family."

Poindexter flew two space shuttle missions, one aboard Atlantis as pilot and one on Discovery as commander, logging more than 669 hours in space before retiring from NASA in December 2010 to return to the Naval Postgraduate School in California.

His former colleagues have taken to Twitter to express their thoughts.

Clayton Anderson, his crewmate aboard Discovery, tweeted, "America lost a great hero yesterday; I lost my commander, my colleague and my friend. RIP Captain Poindexter."

Retired NASA astronaut Alan Poindexter, 1961-2012

Godspeed

[ramseycat]

Sad. His son is never going to get over the guilt.

[Lady Cop]

Ride, Sally Ride~~RIP



(CNN) -- Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, died Monday after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her company said. She was 61.

"Sally lived her life to the fullest, with boundless energy, curiosity, intelligence, passion, commitment, and love. Her integrity was absolute; her spirit was immeasurable; her approach to life was fearless," read a statement on the website of Sally Ride Science, a company she started to help teach students -- particularly young women and girls -- about science, math and technology.

Ride flew into orbit aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983 to become America's first woman in space. She took a second trip aboard the same shuttle one year later.

"As the first American woman to travel into space, Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model," President Barack Obama said soon after news of her death broke. "She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars and later fought tirelessly to help them get there by advocating for a greater focus on science and math in our schools. Sally's life showed us that there are no limits to what we can achieve and I have no doubt that her legacy will endure for years to come."

Ride is survived by her partner of 27 years, Tam O'Shaughnessy, her mother, her sister, and other family members.

"Sally Ride broke barriers with grace and professionalism -- and literally changed the face of America's space program," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "The nation has lost one of its finest leaders, teachers and explorers. Our thoughts and prayers are with Sally's family and the many she inspired. She will be missed, but her star will always shine brightly."

[Ma Huang Sor]

Ive learned to just relax and wait for you.

[Lady Cop]

Space shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis came nose to nose for the final time yesterday after switching places at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

It was a final farewell as Endeavour will be moved to California Science Center in October as a permanent exhibit and Atlantis will be kept at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Florida.

All of the shuttles which have left Earth are due to become museum pieces due to the closure of Nasa's shuttle program.

[Lady Cop]

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has died. age 82

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED.

RIP
he gave Americans a great moment in history.

[Lady Cop]

on the day of a rare "blue moon".



KENNEDY SPACE CENTER --
Florida's Space Coast is saying a final goodbye to Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.

A special memorial service honoring Armstrong started at 1 p.m. at the Kennedy Space Center's Apollo/Saturn V Center.

KSC Director Bob Cabana is leading the ceremony. Armstrong's family has also suggested paying tribute to him by looking at the moon and giving the astronaut a wink.



i'll see if i can get more photos later

[Older Than Dirt]

Damn, LC what a great thread! Surprised?

[Lady Cop]

Damn, LC what a great thread! Surprised?

i told you to get out of that Ohio thread sometimes! lots of good stuff at Mock!