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Space shuttle steals DC's attention
Political Washington was captivated Tuesday by the space shuttle Discovery's flight over the city.
Discovery was carried over Washington-area landmarks by an air cargo plane as it made its way to Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia. NASA is retiring the shuttle, and three others from its recently ended shuttle program, to the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles.
Lawmakers, congressional aides, government workers and journalists tweeted messages and images of the shuttle's flight, which took it over the Washington Monument and Capitol.
"Stepped outside the Capital [sic] to watch Space Shuttle Discovery fly by," Sen Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) tweeted. "Great 30 years of space exploration. Farewell!"
"Sad to see Discovery retire as it flies over DC," Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) added in a tweet of her own.
"America needs a space program we can believe in again," Hutchison said. "Human space flight is too important!
At the Republican National Committee's headquarters Tuesday, aides and a few lawmakers also stopped to watch the shuttle's flight over Washington as they emerged from a House Republican Conference meeting.
But some other lawmakers were more eager to get back to pending legislative issues.
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) had televisions in the hearing room for the panel's meeting Tuesday turned off so he could start the proceedings.
Some members, including Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), expressed disappointment.
But Ryan responded: "Do you want charts, or do you want Fox News?"
-Photos from Greg Nash
-Russell Berman and Julian Pecquet contributed to this report.
