Space Shuttle Discovery Salutes Nation’s Capital [VIDEO]

The space shuttle Discovery soared around the Washington Monument, the White House and the Capitol in a high-flying salute to the nation's capital.

The world's most traveled spaceship was hitching a ride Tuesday on top a Boeing 747 jet. The pair took a leisurely spin at an easy-to-spot 1,500 feet around Washington after a flight from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

The shuttle-jet combo was set to land at Dulles International Airport. On Thursday, it will be towed to its permanent installation at the Smithsonian's annex in northern Virginia.

Discovery flew nearly 149 million miles before it was retired last year. Discovery will replace the shuttle Enterprise at the museum. The Enterprise was a shuttle prototype that never flew in orbit. It will move to a New York museum.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)