Space shuttle Discovery's last flight – in pictures

The US space shuttle Discovery taxis for takeoff at Kennedy Space Center, Florida Photograph: Bruce Weaver/AFP/Getty Images

The space shuttle Discovery, attached to a modified NASA 747 aircraft, takes off in Cape Canaveral Photograph: Reuters

Space shuttle Discovery flies by the Washington Monument in Washington Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images

People gather at the base of the Washington Monument to watch as the space shuttle Discovery flies over the National Mall Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Four-year-old Alex Mendez wears a space shuttle costume while he waits with thousands of others for the arrival of the space shuttle Discovery at its final stop, the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy center in Chantilly, Virginia Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

With a fighter jet escort, the space shuttle Discovery is tethered to the back of a modified 747 jumbo jet as it passes over the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The space shuttle Discovery passes the Washington Monument and the US Capitol Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

People gather to watch and photograph the space shuttle Discovery Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The space shuttle Discovery does a final fly-by over the White House as tourists take pictures Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters

Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a 747 shuttle carrier aircraft, lands at Washington Dulles International Airport during the final trip to its retirement place in Chantilly, Virginia Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Discovery sits on the tarmac at Dulles International Airport after landing Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP