Discovery Ferry Flight Home Begins Soon

The cross country ferry flight of the space shuttle Discovery atop a 747 jumbo jet is scheduled to begin in one hour from southern California, as teams begin boarding and receive their final weather checks before departure.

Discovery, bolted down a top a modified Boeing 747-200 jet, is now scheduled to depart Edwards Air Force Base to begin a nearly 2,500 mile journey to her home here at the Kennedy Space Center at 9:30 am EDT this morning.

After flying over Arizona and New Mexico at an altitude of 15,000 feet, it is scheduled to make the first of two stops today at 12:13 pm EDT, as the aeronautical duo lands at the Rick Husband International Airport in Amarillo, Texas to refuel, perform a weather update east of north Texas and let the crew eat.

If the weather in Louisiana looks favorable, then the 747-combo will be wheels up about two hours later and possibly aim for Barksdale Air Force Base outside Shreveport for an overnight stay.

On Monday, the jumbo jet with its prized cargo riding a top, will depart northern Louisiana at sunrise and aim for a return to America's Space Coast at just before Noon with a traditional low fly over of the beaches from New Smyrna south to Cocoa Beach - including the KSC Industrial area.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will have LIVE updates and television coverage of the flight, including Twitter updates (@spacelaunchnews).