Space shuttle Discovery's final voyage

The space shuttle Discovery has taken off on its last flight when it was carried on top of a jumbo jet to a museum near Washington DC.

It was bolted onto a modified jet for the flight from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida to the Smithsonian Institution at Dulles International Airport.

The Discovery was first launched in 1984, and flew thirty-nine times in space, more than any other shuttle. The United States closed its space shuttle programme last year.

The BBC's Anita McVeigh and Matthew Amroliwala described the take off as spectacular and memorable.