“發現號”飛往華盛頓博物館的最後旅程

The retired U.S. space shuttle Discovery is on its final voyage to a Washington-area aviation museum. The 28-year-old orbiter departed the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday, hitching a ride on the back of one of the U.S. space agency NASA's specially outfitted Boeing 747 jumbo jets. The shuttle is being flown over a variety of landmarks in the Washington area to give people the chance to see it. Discovery will land at Dulles InterNational Airport in northern Virginia and be taken to the Udvar-Hazy Center, part of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

It was a little more than a year ago that Discovery lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on its final mission. NASA retired the shuttle fleet last year to focus on developing the next generation of spacecraft that will travel beyond low earth orbit. On April 19, Discovery will be unveiled as part of the collection at the Udvar-Hazy Center, just outside Washington. Some of Discovery's famous former passengers will be in attendance, including astronaut John Glenn -- who in 1962 was the first American to orbit the Earth. He returned to space on Discovery in 1998.美國退役航天飛機“發現號”正在進行最後一次旅程，前往首都華盛頓地區的航天博物館。這架服役28年的飛行器星期二離開佛羅里達州的肯尼迪航天中心，騎在一架美國航空航天署專門配備的波音747大型噴氣式飛機背上啓程。這架航天飛機將飛過華盛頓地區的多個地標建築，讓民衆有機會看到它。“發現號”將在維吉尼亞州北部的杜勒斯國際機場着陸，並前往史密森國家航空航天博物館分部的優達沃-哈茲中心。

一年多前，“發現號”從肯尼迪航天中心出發，完成了最後一次太空使命。去年，美國航空航天局讓所有航天飛機退役，集中發展下一代能繞地球低軌道飛行的太空船。4月19日，“發現號”將作爲華盛頓郊外的優達沃-哈茲中心的收藏品亮相。屆時，“發現號”一些著名的過去的乘客將到場，其中包括1962年首位繞地球飛行的美國人約翰.格倫。他1998年搭乘“發現號”返回太空。