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Nicole Stott, STS-133 Astronaut: I'm not going to lie to you, I'm feeling a little sad because

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I think it's a little bit like watching somebody leave home.

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NARRATOR: Space shuttle Discovery began a new mission as it left

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NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida destined for the Smithsonian's

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National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington, D.C.

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Discovery's flyout from Kennedy on Tuesday, April 17, 2012,

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began several days earlier when the shuttle, equipped with an

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aerodynamic tail cone over its three main engines,

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was rolled out of the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building for the last time.

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It was towed about two miles to the Shuttle Landing Facility where

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NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified 747, was already waiting.

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Technicians who had prepped shuttles many times before for cross-country

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ferry flights once again took their stations inside the mate-demate device at

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Kennedy to carefully hoist the 83-ton Discovery and place it gingerly on the 747.

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The combination was pushed away from the steel stacking structure and

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spent the day as the center of appreciation for employees and

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NASA officials who came out to see the spacecraft one last time in its operational environment.

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Some of the astronauts of Discovery's last mission,

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STS-133, came back to Kennedy to see the shuttle's departure.

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STOTT: I think this has been Discovery's home for a long time,

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but I think the Smithsonian's going to take beautiful care of her as well,

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so I look forward to taking my family up there sometime and seeing her on display.

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NARRATOR: Space shuttles routinely impressed people with their performances,

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and even flying through the air on a 747 inspires a certain "gee-whiz" notion even among astronauts.

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Steve Bowen, STS-133 Astronaut: Once you get over the shock of it going away for the last time,

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you can't not look at that combination and go, "Wow! How does that fly?"

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NARRATOR: The 747 and its precious shuttle cargo are going to give many more the

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chance to see the orbiter as it flies up the east coast to the nation's capital.

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Jeff Moultrie, SCA Commander/Pilot: We're doing a series of flyovers starting here at Kennedy and

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we're doing one at Washington, D.C. and we want to do the best job that

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we can with a lot of eyes watching us on this delivery.

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NARRATOR: Retired after more than 25 years of space flight,

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Discovery will take a centerpiece position in the Smithsonian's preeminent museum of aerospace accomplishments.