T-38 jets to fly over D.C. Thursday to scout space shuttle Discovery flyover path

By Maggie Fazeli Fard
Posted at 09:28 AM ET, 04/05/2012


Two T-38 jets at Kennedy Space Center. (Stan Honda - AFP/Getty Images)

As NASA prepares to deliver recently retired space shuttles to area museums later this month, the agency will deploy two jets over D.C. Thursday to scout possible routes for shuttle flyovers.

Two T-38 training jets, also known as “white rockets,” will fly about 1,500 feet above Washington between 9:30 and 11 a.m.

The jets are expected to capture photos of the restricted airspace so officials can determine if the planned flyovers are viable.


The U.S. space shuttle Discovery will be transported to Washington, D.C., on April 17. (Bruce Weaver - AFP/Getty Images)

The first flyover is scheduled to take place on April 17, when the space shuttle Discovery is transported from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Dulles Airport. The shuttle will be hitched up to the back of a modified Boeing 747.

The delivery will be followed by an arrival ceremony on April 19, and a four-day public festival as the shuttle is retired to the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center.

Find more details about the “Welcome Discovery” festival in the Going Out Guide.

T-38 jets to fly over D.C. Thursday to scout space shuttle Discovery flyover path - Post Now - The Washington Post

they really are doing surveillance of citizens.

hope not :(