Flashback Friday: The final flight of Space Shuttle Discovery

A look back into the CQ Roll Call photo archives

The Space Shuttle Discovery atop NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, passes by the Washington Monument during its final flight on April 17, 2012.  (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call file photo)
The Space Shuttle Discovery atop NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, passes by the Washington Monument during its final flight on April 17, 2012. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Posted April 17, 2020 at 1:46pm

The entire CQ Roll Call photo staff mobilized eight years ago Friday to capture the Space Shuttle Discovery’s flight over Washington and the U.S. Capitol. The flight originated from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with a final destination of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a part of Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, in Virginia. Here are a few photos from that memorable day.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy points up as the Space Shuttle Discovery makes one of several passes by the Capitol. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Spectators gather at the Capitol to watch the flyby. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call file photo)
The NASA 747 transport jet carries the Discovery as it flies over the Capitol. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Gracie Hollimas, 11, and other sixth-graders from Macon, Ga., watch from the East Front of the Capitol. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
The space shuttle passes by the House side of the Capitol. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)