Space Shuttle Discovery

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  • April 17, 2012 at 2:40 pm #939337
    jrenaut
    Participant

    We walked out to the Mall and saw it. It was pretty cool. Tons of people. I wish I worked in one of the buildings with roof access.

    April 17, 2012 at 2:47 pm #939341
    americancyclo
    Participant

    everyone at the capitol was out and there were squees from tween girls everywhere. nice day to be outside with a snack and a warm beverage. saw three relatively close fly-bys before I headed back inside.

    April 17, 2012 at 2:49 pm #939342
    consularrider
    Participant

    It came directly over our building in Rosslyn on its first pass. We heard the big rumble, saw the reflection in the WJLA building, and then got a closeup rear view as they headed down the Potomac. We had a fairly good vantage point from the 9th floor for most of the passes and seeing it over the National Cathedral was quite impressive.

    April 17, 2012 at 2:54 pm #939343
    vvill
    Participant

    5 of us from work went down to the mall near the Monument to see it (2 of us on bikes). Saw about 3 passes with decent visibility. I couldn’t figure out was the escort plane was – it looked smaller than a typical jet.

    Also – I saw a guy on a fixie fatbike, but it wasn’t Dirt. About 5 mins later, I saw another guy on a fixie fatbike with a bright shirt. This time, it was Dirt! I think he got quite a few photos.

    April 17, 2012 at 3:28 pm #939346
    dbb
    Participant

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]939[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]940[/ATTACH]

    Bigger images when I get home.

    Escort was a T38, a small jet trainer

    Flyover was way cool!

    April 17, 2012 at 3:30 pm #939347
    DaveK
    Participant

    @dbb 18258 wrote:

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]939[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]940[/ATTACH]

    Bigger images when I get home.

    Escort was a T38, a small jet trainer

    Flyover was way cool!

    Wow! Yours are the clearest pics I’ve seen thus far.

    We have a pretty high perch near Courthouse Metro so we just chased it around the building. I had intended to run down to Iwo Jima but they got here early.

    April 17, 2012 at 3:34 pm #939349
    dbb
    Participant

    Thanks. The bike camera (a throwaway Kodak) stayed in the backpack and the killer zoom Canon SX20 was pressed into service.

    April 17, 2012 at 3:38 pm #939351
    Megabeth
    Participant

    We were at the Air Force Memorial. A great vista. Was really hoping it would come around one more time. Made it home in time to watch it land at Dulles. Can’t wait to see it up close.

    April 17, 2012 at 3:50 pm #939352
    Dirt
    Participant

    I went out for a ride at lunch and got a space shuttle stuck in my nose. It kinds stings.

    6941440656_ef9dcf8770_b.jpg

    Nice to see you, Will! The other guy you saw on the fat bike was probably my friend Ricky.

    April 17, 2012 at 4:42 pm #939354
    KS1G
    Participant

    Work is under the Dulles runway 1C approach, so we had a good view of all 3 passes (2 fly-bys and landing) to 1R. I heard Rt 28 and 50 were pretty much at a standstill (good day to bike!).

    April 17, 2012 at 5:08 pm #939357
    JustinW
    Participant

    Headed to Long Bridge Park to watch, but of all times for NASA to be early, today was it. I caught the first pass (glorious and close!) while next to DCA on the MVT, and caught the remaining passes at the Park – which was packed, by the way.

    Was amused to see traffic northbound on the parkway was at a standstill @ that time, likely due to would-be Discovery watchers trying to pack into Gravelly Point. No traffic woes on the bike, of course…. :)

    April 17, 2012 at 5:32 pm #939361
    eminva
    Participant

    I am glad to see so many people geeked out about this. I grew up a mile from the back gate of the Johnson Space Center. I am still incredibly inspired by it.

    I missed it this morning — was getting ready for a meeting. But I saw the Enterprise at Ellington AFB in 1978, so there is that.

    Liz

    April 17, 2012 at 5:54 pm #939369
    dasgeh
    Participant

    I work in one of those offices on the Mall with roof access (a terrace around out cafeteria), and my husband and daughter came down to watch. We missed the first pass but saw 2-3 others. It was awesome. Beautiful day. I was very jealous when they hopped on the bike to head down to Haines Point when the shuttle was done. They hung out by the playground until about noon. Lots of people but not totally packed. Lots of cars, not a lot of cyclists. They had fun, though (despite the wind). Definitely a great day to be on a bike!

    April 17, 2012 at 5:55 pm #939370
    JimF22003
    Participant

    It made a couple of loops around the Tysons area too. Flew more or less right over our office building, but it was fairly high up. My iPhone pics of it are pretty pathetic :(

    April 17, 2012 at 7:09 pm #939382
    PotomacCyclist
    Participant

    I’m a complete space geek. The Air and Space Museums are nice but it’s not the same as watching one of these large craft up in the air. The Enterprise was neat at the Udvar-Hazy Center, but having the Discovery in the space hangar will be even better. I probably won’t make it out there for the ceremonies this week but I definitely plan to go out there sometime this summer.

    ARLnow has a lot of quality pictures, shot from the Air Force Memorial: http://www.arlnow.com/2012/04/17/space-shuttle-discovery-performs-final-flyover/comment-page-1/#

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