NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft number 905 arrived at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., April 10 for its final shuttle-related mission.
The aircraft will ferry the space shuttles to their final resting places by fall.
Currently, NASA technicians are preparing Discovery for the ferry flight early next week to the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles airport in Virginia. Swapping Discover for Enterprise, the modified 747 will fly to JFK airport later this month.
Enterprise will be on display aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Intrepid in New York harbor.
Then it’s back to Florida to pick up Endeavour, before delivering it to Los Angeles.
NASA 905 will assume a new role with the agency’s stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy program. NASA 911, the second SCA, transferred in February to support the SOFIA mission out of Palmdale Calif., joining the 747SP airborne telescope already used in this role.
