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© NASA
On Monday morning, April 19th, space shuttle Discovery will make a rare "descending node" overflight of the continental United States en route to landing in Florida. Many towns and cities in the country's heartland are near the ground track.

Landing is scheduled for 8:48 am EDT, and it takes the shuttle about 35 minutes to traverse the path shown above. Observers in the northwestern USA will see the shuttle shortly after 5 am PDT blazing like a meteoritic fireball through the dawn sky. As Discovery makes its way east, it will enter daylight and fade into the bright blue background. If you can't see the shuttle, however, you might be able to hear it. The shuttle produces a sonic double-boom that reaches the ground about a minute and a half after passing overhead.

Check nasa.gov for more maps. A forecast of cloud cover along the ground track is also available.

Update! How to predict sighting opportunities for your location.