Goodbye fly-by for space shuttle Discovery

(Image: Sutherland Erin/ABACA/Press Association Images)

Piggybacked on a modified Boeing jumbo jet, and stripped of its heavyweight rocket engines and fuel tanks, the space shuttle Discovery flew its final trip today.

In four spectacular fly-bys of central Washington DC, the plane's pilot played to the crowds on the way to Dulles airport, from where Discovery will be delivered to its new home, the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Here, the space shuttle will join the Wright Flyer, X-15 and SpaceShipOne as yet another trophy exhibit.

Scientists have good reason to love Discovery: it launched the Hubble Space telescope in April 1990, and serviced it in 1997 and 1999 - giving us our best ever window on the heavens.