One year and one month ago, the space shuttle Discovery completed its 39th and final mission. The moment it hit the ground, it was retired. Thirteen months into its obsolescence, NASA shelled out $11 million to strap it to a plane and fly it to the Smithsonian. Countless Washingtonians, plenty of whom had forgotten all about the shuttle, stood outside to gawk and film and Instagram the graceful final descent.

Newt Gingrich was taking notes. Today he announced that he will “transition” his presidential campaign into a nonpresidential campaign. The final descent will occur on Tuesday, at a speech in Washington. “It’ll be impressive,” predicts his unofficial biographer Craig Shirley, author of two books about Ronald Reagan. “He’s always been able to pull off a big, impressive speech.” And it’ll all happen a year after the city pronounced Gingrich politically dead.