Starship Asterisk*

by **owlice** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:57 pm

Please post your Discovery Fly-over images here.

Please see this thread before posting images; posting images demonstrates your agreement with the possible uses for your image.

Those viewing the thread: this thread may be updated several (or many!) times over the next few days. Check back to see the latest images!

Thank you!

by **owlice** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 4:44 pm

I was walking from one building to another in downtown DC (by design) when Discovery was flown over. Bad cell phone with a worse camera, so this is what I got. I was mostly busy watching anyway, along with many others. Discovery made three passes; I saw two of them (but got only the one pic).

Shuttle.JPG

shuttleflyover inset.JPG

Several friends have sent me other (better) pics; will post them tonight if they grant me permission to do so.

It was very exciting to see!!

by **owlice** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:09 pm

From Downtown DC
Copyright: Roslyn Pachoca

RoslynsDiscoveryPhoto.JPG

by **bystander** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:34 pm

Space Shuttle Discovery Flown Over the U.S. Capitol
NASA Image of the Day | 2012 Apr 17

Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, is seen as it flies near the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, April 17, 2012, in Washington. Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles. NASA will transfer Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum to begin its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers.

Image Credit: NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Harold Dorwin

by **geckzilla** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:39 pm

Hey, even the guys renovating the statue are pausing to look. What's up with the little escort the shuttle has? Were they making sure no other flights happened at the same time? I guess if I were transporting a space shuttle I'd want security to be tight, too.

by **neufer** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:13 pm

geckzilla wrote:
What's up with the little escort the shuttle has? Were they making sure no other flights happened at the same time? I guess if I were transporting a space shuttle I'd want security to be tight, too.

It is a "chase plane" : safety and photo.

http://www.aviationbanter.com/archive/i ... -6729.html wrote:
On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 11:12:06 -0700, Hobo > wrote:

> What is the purpose of "chase planes" that are always involved
> with the testing of every new aircraft design?

Mary Shafer wrote:
There are two kinds of chase planes: safety and photo.

Safety chase is there for safety of flight--the chase pilot takes the
radio calls, watches for traffic, makes sure they stay inside the
restricted area, keeps an eye out for fluids leaks or parts falling
off, acts as a pacer aircraft to be sure the CADS is working about
right, looks for anomalies like flutter or buffet, and, if required,
acts as RESCAP.

Photo chase carries the photographer or videographer, obviously. The
photo chase pilot will also be a safety chase.

At Dryden, research aircraft have to have a safety chase at all times,
except in the landing pattern. On long flights, we could use the EDW
tanker crew as an interim safety chase while we swapped safety chases,
ensuring that the research vehicle was never flying all by itself, out
of everyone's view.
Dan Ford wrote:
They do useful things like confirming that the test aircraft's wheels
are down (or up, as the case may be).

by **owlice** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:24 am

From GSFC
Copyright: Gyorgy Fekete

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by **owlice** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:34 am

Copyright: Peter Teuben
https://plus.google.com/photos/10375617 ... banner=pwa

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by **owlice** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:36 am

DC Arrival
Copyright: Greg Redfern

DSC_0021.jpg

by **Indigo_Sunrise** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:13 am

shuttle.jpg

[Another cell phone pic, but not too bad.] Taken from the National Harbor just outside of DC. It was pretty awesome watching it fly over the Potomac River!

8-)