NASA 905 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Arrives at Kennedy Space Center

The newly arrived Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is seen through the platforms of the mate-demate device at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The aircraft, known as an SCA, arrived at 5:35 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, April 10, 2012, to prepare for shuttle Discovery’s ferry flight to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Va., on April 17. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is a modified Boeing 747 jet airliner, originally manufactured for commercial use.

One of two SCAs employed over the course of the Space Shuttle Program, NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 911 was decommissioned at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in California in February.

Discovery will be placed on permanent public display in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Shuttle IMAX Cameras Presented to the Smithsonian

An IMAX camera that flew aboard a space shuttle is seen at the Moving Beyond Earth Gallery at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Wednesday, April 4, 2012, in Washington. This and another IMAX camera that flew in space became a part of the museum’s collection. From 1984 to 1998 the 70mm cameras accompanied astronauts on 17 space shuttle missions offering stunning views of Earth from space and offered an up-close look at what it is like to live and work in a weightless environment.

Image Credit: NASA/Paul E. Alers