On Tuesday, NASA transferred the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Center to its new resting home at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport. The shuttle made the trip on the back of a specially modified Boeing 747, and fortunately for me, the shuttle made a short detour around the Capitol.

Piggy Back The shuttle's fly-by was well publicized and many folks who worked in the area ventured out of their offices to witness the historic event. The National Mall and the Capitol were quite crowded.

The shuttle flew at an altitude of only 1,500 feet. That's very low! I envied the folks in the Post Office Pavilion (photo below). They would have had a great view! However, if you look closely at the photo, you can see folks in the tower looking the wrong way. The shuttle didn't make any sound and was moving quite quickly. I fear that some of them may have missed it. Wow, what a sight to miss!


The low altitude flight of the shuttle made for some interesting photos. Here's one in which it appears the shuttle is banking around the Smithsonian castle. The guy working on the crane must have had a really great day!


The organizers of the fly-by wouldn't release the flight path of the shuttle before the fly-by. They provided an approximate time and suggested various viewing locations throughout the city. However, they said that there were no guarantees that the shuttle would fly by any particular location, since even slight changes in weather might require last minute changes to the flight path. This made it very difficult to plan out good shots. I really just wanted to see the shuttle; getting a good photo would be a secondary priority. So, I gambled on the National Mall and I got lucky. The weather was beautiful and the shuttle flew right overhead. I had a really great day!