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Nose-To-Nose On The Road To Retirement

CAPE CANAVERAL (CBS4) -- The space shuttle Discovery and shuttle Endeavour are both on the road to retirement and met nose-to-nose Thursday while trading places at the Kennedy Space Center.

In the rare nose-to-nose encounter, Discovery and Endeavour met outside a shuttle hangar as Discovery was being moved inside and Endeavour was being moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

The switch was necessary for NASA to continue preparing both spaceships for their future homes. Discovery will head next spring to a Virginia hangar belonging to the Smithsonian Institution. Endeavour will then be transported to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

Atlantis -- which recently completed the last shuttle flight -- will remain at Kennedy for public display.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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