welcome back, everybody. there's some delicate surg welcome back, everybody. there's some delicate surgery being done outside washington, d.c., over the next day or so using some big-time machinery. >> the space shuttle "discovery" must be separated from that jumbo jet that flew it from florida to virginia yesterday. wftv's kevin oliver reports. >> reporter: it was a sight to behold. the space shuttle "discovery," the country's longest flying spacecraft, flown around the nation's capital. tens of thousands of people stopped with they were doing to peer up and capture photos of the spacecraft circling on the back of a 747. >> "discovery" was in great shape when she landed, and so are the other birds. so this is the way you want to end a program. >> reporter: astronaut michael barrett was on "discovery's" final space flight. he was back at the kennedy space center to see it off. he said seeing it leave its home here was harder than he thought. >> when they came back and did the flyover the runway again and then started north, started away and disappeared, i was a little bit emotional.