NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA)

The space shuttle Discovery is suspended from a sling held by twocranes shortly after the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) waspushed back from underneath at Washington Dulles InternationalAirport, Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Sterling, VA. Discovery, thefirst orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, completed 39missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, andtraveled 148,221,675 miles. NASA will transfer Discovery to theNational Air and Space Museum to begin its new mission to commemoratepast achievements in space and to educate and inspire futuregenerations of explorers. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)