Piggybacking aboard a Boeing 747, the space shuttle Discovery made a dramatic flyover of Washington yesterday on the way to its final resting place, a museum outside the US capital.

Riding atop a modified plane kept by Nasa specifically for transporting space shuttles, Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, just after dawn for its last journey in the skies.

Crowds whistled and cheered the shuttle, which first flew in 1984, as it circled over the US capital for about an hour before landing at Dulles International Airport.

“Touchdown, Discovery!” Nasa said on the microblogging site Twitter after the shuttle cruised onto the runway.

Tourists wearing shorts on a sunny spring day gathered along the National Mall near the Washington Monument, staring skyward to catch a glimpse of the storied white and black shuttle, which appeared scuffed and grubby from its 39 journeys into space.

Office workers clustered at windows or climbed onto rooftops to see the aircraft and shuttle as they soared low over the US capital’s historic landmarks.

Outside the Pentagon, a throng of military officers and civilian employees watched the shuttle fly a final time, revelling and applauding as it made two low passes over the building, escorted by a T-38 fighter jet.