Visualized: Space Shuttle Discovery gets prepped for its final flight, gets Boeing piggyback

Strapped to the back of a repurposed Boeing 747, this is how NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery will make its final flight. Over the last few days, the shuttle has been readied and mounted onto the jet, technically called the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). The duo will land at Dulles Airport before taking the land-based route to the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Center. Ahead of its departure from the Kennedy Space Center in the next few hours, you can check out NASA's gallery below for plenty of high resolution images. Tearing up is optional.