Shreveport, Louisiana - Space shuttle Discovery has left Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana on the last leg of its cross-country flight home to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The shuttle is being ferried atop a modified 747 aircraft, known as a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Discovery ended a two-week mission to the international space station earlier this month but had to land in California because bad weather prevented a landing at Cape Canaveral.

The shuttle stopped in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday before an overnight stay at Barksdale in Shreveport, Louisiana. It left Barksdale around 9:40 am EDT (1340 GMT) for what should be a two hour and 45 minute trip to the Kennedy Space Center, though storms could force a landing in Tampa. - Sapa-AP