Shuttle Discovery's last flight

Discovery made its last flight today, however this flight was not into space but was atop a modified National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Boeing 747-100 (SCA) (N905NA) from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida to its new home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

 

The Discovery was the fleet leader of NASA's 3 surviving shuttles and performed its last space flight in March 2011.


Today's flight included low passes over Washington D.C. where thousands turned out to watch it pass.

Here we can see the NASA 747 and attached shuttle departing Kennedy Space Centre just after dawn Photo: Reuters from the Guardian

Here we can see the NASA 747 and shuttle landing a Washington Dulles Airport (KIAD) Photo: Reuters

Over the next two days, the Shuttle will be lifted off its perch atop the 747 and be prepared for the official handover to the Smithsonian on Thursday.

The shuttle flew 39 missions in more than 27 years of service. It is the world's most travelled space ship. The Discovery which took its name from the 18th century British exploratory vessel HMS Discovery captained by James Cook spent a total of 365 days in orbit over its lifetime, and marks the end of the shuttle era.

NASA who ended the shuttle program in the Summer of 2011 is already moving on. With the $100bn Space Station now complete. They are to focus on building a new generation of space ship that can carry astronauts beyond the station's 240 mile high orbit.


Sources: The Guardian
                MSN
                Wikipedia page about the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 
                Wikipedia - Washington Dulles Airport

Air Asiana OZ 991 crashes after reporting a fire

The Air Asiana 747 cargo plane that was bound for Pudong, China from Icheon International airport. After reporting a fire, the crew turned back to land at Jeju International airport. But crashed before they could reach the airport.


The aircraft left Icheon at 3:05am(18:05 GMT) and after turning back, went off radar at 4:12am (19:12 GMT). The wreckage was found 2 hours later by the South Korean Coast guard about 107km (66 miles) West of Jeju city.


“We only can say that an in-flight fire, which occurred in the plane’s freight cargo, could be the reason for the crash because the pilots told us about the fire right before they disappeared from the radar,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said. “But we can’t say how the fire occurred, though there were inflammable materials in the cargo. And also, we are not sure whether there was an explosion.”


The two pilots who died in the crash were: Capt. Choi Sang-gi, 52 who had 14,000 flying hours and had been flying with the airline since 1991, and Co pilot Lee Jeong-woong, 44 had been flying for the airline since 2007 and had 5,211 flying hours.

HL7604 the Boeing 747-48EF/SCD involved in the crash © Niki Kapsamunov on airliners.net

Sources: Joongang Daily
BBC News