Shuttle Discovery leaves La. Air Force base on last leg of cross-country trip to Fla.

Space shuttle Discovery leaves La. for Fla.

SHREVEPORT, La. — Space shuttle Discovery has left Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana on the last leg of its cross-country flight home to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The shuttle is being ferried atop a modified 747 aircraft, known as a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Discovery ended a two-week, 5.7-million mile mission to the international space station earlier this month but had to land in California because bad weather prevented a landing at Cape Canaveral.

The shuttle stopped in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday before an overnight stay at Barksdale in Shreveport, La. It left Barksdale around 9:40 a.m. EDT for what should be a two hour and 45 minute trip to the Kennedy Space Center, though storms could force a landing in Tampa.

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NASA: www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html