Start long lead fabrication of Crew Module Construction milestones DateĬontract Award to Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey, California Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. The spacecraft is now on display in Virginia at the Steven F. Its first West Coast mission, STS-62-A, was scheduled for 1986, but canceled in the aftermath of the Challenger disaster.ĭiscovery was retired after completing its final mission, STS-133 on March 9, 2011. Had plans to launch United States Department of Defense payloads from Vandenberg Air Force Base gone ahead, Discovery would have become the dedicated US Air Force shuttle. Project Mercury astronaut John Glenn, who was 77 at the time, flew with Discovery on STS-95 in 1998, making him the oldest person to go into space at that time in history. Twice Discovery was chosen as the "Return To Flight" Orbiter, first in 1988 after the loss of Challenger in 1986, and then again for the twin "Return To Flight" missions in July 2005 and July 2006 after the Columbia disaster in 2003. It also launched the Ulysses probe and three TDRS satellites. Space Shuttle Discovery launched the Hubble Space Telescope and conducted the second and third Hubble service missions. Other ships bearing the name have included HMS Discovery of the 1875–1876 British Arctic Expedition to the North Pole, and RRS Discovery, which carried the 1901–1904 Discovery Expedition to Antarctica, led by Captain Scott. The name Discovery was chosen to carry on a tradition based on ships of exploration, primarily HMS Discovery, one of the ships commanded by Captain James Cook during his third and final major voyage from 1776 to 1779, and Henry Hudson's Discovery, which was used in 1610–1611 to explore Hudson Bay and search for a Northwest Passage. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The shuttle is now on display at the Steven F. Discovery performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions, and also carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit among other satellites.ĭiscovery was the first operational shuttle to be retired, followed by Endeavour and then Atlantis. It embarked on its final mission, STS-133, on February 24, 2011, and touched down for the last time at Kennedy Space Center on March 9, having spent a cumulative total of nearly a full year in space. ĭiscovery became the third operational orbiter to enter service, preceded by Columbia and Challenger. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle had three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft to date. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Space Shuttle Discovery ( Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is a retired American spacecraft. Discovery and SCA 905 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, November 6, 1983
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |