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A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, flies over New York City carrying the Space Shuttle Enterprise to its final destination in April 2012. Photo by Tiffany Moy.

Shuttle-ferrying jumbo jet reaches Johnson Space Center

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, flies over New York City carrying the Space Shuttle Enterprise to its final destination in April 2012. Photo by Tiffany Moy.
A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, flies over New York City carrying the Space Shuttle Enterprise to its final destination in April 2012. Photo by Tiffany Moy.

HOUSTON (AP) – A modified jumbo jet that transported shuttles piggyback to Florida following flights has arrived at its new home in Texas after an 8-mile highway trek.

What was known as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, reached Space Center Houston after a slow-moving trip from Ellington Field.

Some giant flatbed trailers on Monday began hauling the biggest disassembled pieces of the old 747 jumbo jet that flew shuttles on cross-country trips. The last of the entourage arrived at Space Center Houston early Wednesday.

The jet will be put together and topped with a shuttle replica about 60 feet off the ground as a museum piece. The site is expected to open next year just outside NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Mission Control in Houston served as the center for the nation’s manned space flights.

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Online:

http://spacecenter.org/

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AP-WF-04-30-14 1228GMT

 

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, flies over New York City carrying the Space Shuttle Enterprise to its final destination in April 2012. Photo by Tiffany Moy.
A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, flies over New York City carrying the Space Shuttle Enterprise to its final destination in April 2012. Photo by Tiffany Moy.