I Spot the Shuttle…

posted in: Government, Social Media, Washington DC | 0

#SpottheShuttle from atop our International Square rooftop, 1... on TwitpicAbout 100 or so gathered on the roof of our building to get a glimpse of the Space Shuttle Discovery.

It was slated to fly over the Washington, DC monuments for a swansong journey before officially retiring to a new home at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Dulles, VA.

It was supposed to arrive between 10 AM and 11 AM ET but it was early. Word traveled faster than the shuttle.

How did we know? Why, Twitter, of course. Thanks, @Smithsonian! (HT @shkon)

So, we headed up to the roof and anxiously attempted to figure out just exactly which direction to look in anticipation of its arrival. Hashtags started to trend on Twitter such as #SpottheShuttle and #WelcomeDiscovery.

Then, it started with a point — followed by another as we shielded the sun from our eyes. “Is that it?” “Yup, there it is!!”

It flew across the sky from our right to left, riding piggyback and escorted by a fighter jet, before heading toward the US Capitol and the National Mall. Then, just like that, it was gone.

Not something most of us see every day and it was really special to see so many assemble to witness it. Pretty cool way to start a Tuesday.

You had a good run, Discovery. Best to your NASA engineers and crew. Thanks for your service.

RELATED

Discovery Rules Galactic Social Media Empire
(Bethbeck’s Blog, 4/21/12, by @bethbeck)

Space Shuttle Discovery Flies Above Washington DC
(The White House Blog, 4/17/12, HT Macon Phillips)

VIDEO
http://www.tout.com/m/d0rvff

Follow David:

CapitalGig founder, Bush 43 White House staffer, digital, media, soccer dad, Edison HS JV Girls Soccer Coach, politics, Phi Delta Theta

Latest posts from

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.