I had no idea just how taxing the Shuttle's return journey from Edwards Air Force Base back to the Kennedy Space Center was until I read about its tech stop in San Antonio (Lackland Air Force Base) today. I had always assumed that the flight from California to Florida would be a non-stop. It is anything but. NASA has an excellent blog (with pictures) chronicling the journey.

Yesterday, the 747 carrying the Shuttle piggyback flew from Edwards to El Paso (Biggs Army Airfield). Today it resumed its journey by flying from El Paso to San Antonio. Amazing that it takes two stops to transit Texas, no? After stopping at Lackland for a few hours -- here is some video of the takeoff from Lackland today -- it's now on its way to Columbus Air Force base in Mississippi. Flight Aware is tracking its journey across the country: NASA 911.