Discovery Meets Smithsonian



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, Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Chantilly, Virginia.
CREDIT: NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Carolyn Russo

CHANTILLY, Va. — When space shuttle Discovery began its new mission as a museum relic, it wasn't alone. More than two dozen astronauts helped usher the storied space plane into its new role as a Smithsonian exhibit.
Emotions were high as NASA officially declared Discovery the property of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum today (April 19), closing the chapter on its life as a spaceworthy orbiter, and opening its new mission as an artifact to educate and inspire.
To mark the occasion, two American astronauts currently on the International Space Station beamed a recorded sendoff for Discovery, but it was the nearly 30 astronauts walking the shuttle over to the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex here who said the final farewell.
"It's hard to see something that I know still could fly and could do great things in space, be retired," said astronaut Frank Culbertson, a veteran of two Discovery missions. "I think the Smithsonian's a great place for it, it'll be an inspiration for thousands of people, but it's hard to watch it retire."
source-http://www.space.com/15347-space-shuttle-discovery-astronauts-reflections.html