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Space Shuttle Discovery

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Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery being prepared for mission STS-121.
Construction numberOV-103
CountryUnited States
Contract award29 January, 1979
Named afterRRS Discovery
StatusActive
First flightSTS-41-D
30 August, 1984 – 5 September, 1984
Last flightSTS-120
23 October, 2007 - 7 November, 2007
No. of missions34
Crew members199
Days spent in space268.62 days
No. of orbits4,229
Distance travelled–176,657,672 km
–109,810,673 mi
Satellites deployed31 (including Hubble Space Telescope)
Mir dockings1
ISS dockings8

Space Shuttle Discovery (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the three currently operational spacecraft in the Space Shuttle fleet of NASA, the space agency of the United States.[1] (The other two are Atlantis and Endeavour.) When first flown in 1984, Discovery became the third operational orbiter, and is now the oldest orbiter in service. Discovery has performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions.

History

The spacecraft takes its name from previous ships of exploration named Discovery, primarily HMS Discovery, the sailing ship that accompanied famous explorer James Cook on his third and final major voyage. Others include Henry Hudson's ship Discovery which he used in 1610–1611 to search for a Northwest Passage, and RRS Discovery, a vessel used for expeditions to Antarctica in 1901-1904 by Scott and Shackleton (and still preserved as a museum). The shuttle shares a name with Discovery One, the fictional Jupiter spaceship from the films 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact.

Discovery was the shuttle that launched the Hubble Space Telescope. The second and third Hubble service missions were also conducted by Discovery. She has also launched the Ulysses probe and three TDRS satellites. Discovery has been chosen twice as the return to flight orbiter, first in 1988 as the return to flight orbiter after the 1986 Challenger disaster, and then for the twin return to flight missions in July 2005 and July 2006 after the 2003 Columbia disaster. Discovery also carried Project Mercury astronaut John Glenn, who was 77 at the time, back into space during STS-95 on October 29, 1998, making him the oldest human being to venture into space.

Had the planned missions from Vandenberg Air Force Base for the United States Department of Defense gone ahead, Discovery would have flown these missions.

Current status

Discovery concluded its 15-day mission STS-120 to the International Space Station on November 7, 2007, called one of the "most challenging - and heroic- missions in shuttle history."[2] Discovery landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center at 1:01 p.m. EST.

Flights

Space Shuttle Discovery has flown 34 flights, spent 296.84 days in space, completed 3,808 orbits, and flown 98,710,673 statute miles (158,859,429 km) in total, as of November 2007. It has flown the most flights of all Space Shuttles so far (a title it is likely to keep). Discovery has also flown on more individual flights than any other spacecraft in history and is likely to retain this honor for some time as no planned launch vehicles (neither American nor International) have a designed lifespan of more than 10 flights. Discovery has flown both "return to flight" missions after the Challenger and Columbia disasters: STS-26 in 1988 and STS-114 in 2005.

STS-121 launches, the only Independence Day shuttle launch for NASA.
The Space Shuttle Discovery approaches the International Space Station for docking but before the link-up occurred, the orbiter "posed" for a thorough series of inspection photos.

Notable missions

Flights listing

# Date Designation Notes Length of journey
1 1984 August 30 STS-41-D First Discovery mission: Launched two communications satellites, including LEASAT F2. 06 days, 00 hours, 56 minutes, 04 seconds
2 1984 November 8 STS-51-A Launched two and rescued two communications satellites including LEASAT F1. 07 days, 23 hours, 44 minutes, 56 seconds
3 1985 January 24 STS-51-C Launched DOD Magnum ELINT satellite. 03 days, 01 hours, 33 minutes, 23 seconds
4 1985 April 12 STS-51-D Launched two communications satellites including LEASAT F3. 06 days, 23 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds
5 1985 June 17 STS-51-G Launched two communications satellites, Sultan Salman al-Saud becomes first Saudi Arabian in space. 07 days, 01 hours, 38 minutes, 52 seconds
6 1985 August 27 STS-51-I Launched two communications satellites including LEASAT F4. Recovered LEASAT F3. 07 days, 02 hours, 17 minutes, 42 seconds
7 1988 September 29 STS-26 Return to flight since Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, launched TDRS. 04 days, 01 hours, 00 minutes, 11 seconds
8 1989 March 13 STS-29 Launched TDRS. 04 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 52 seconds
9 1989 November 22 STS-33 Launched DOD Magnum ELINT satellite. 05 days, 00 hours, 06 minutes, 49 seconds
10 1990 April 24 STS-31 Launch of Hubble Space Telescope (HST). 05 days, 01 hours, 16 minutes, 06 seconds
11 1990 October 6 STS-41 Launch of Ulysses. 04 days, 02 hours, 10 minutes, 04 seconds
12 1991 April 28 STS-39 Launched DOD Air Force Program-675 (AFP675) satellite. 08 days, 07 hours, 22 minutes, 23 seconds
13 1991 September 12 STS-48 Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). 05 days, 08 hours, 27 minutes, 38 seconds
14 1992 January 22 STS-42 International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1). 08 days, 01 hours, 14 minutes, 44 seconds.
15 1992 December 2 STS-53 Department of Defense payload. 07 days, 07 hours, 19 minutes, 47 seconds
16 1993 April 8 STS-56 Atmospheric Laboratory (ATLAS-2). 09 days, 06 hours, 08 minutes, 24 seconds
17 1993 September 12 STS-51 Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS). 09 days, 20 hours, 11 minutes, 11 seconds
18 1994 February 3 STS-60 Wake Shield Facility (WSF). 07 days, 06 hours, 08 minutes, 36 seconds
19 1994 September 9 STS-64 LIDAR In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE). 10 days, 22 hours, 49 minutes, 57 seconds
20 1995 February 3 STS-63 Rendezvous with Mir space station. 08 days, 06 hours, 29 minutes, 36 seconds
21 1995 July 13 STS-70 7th Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). 08 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 05 seconds
22 1997 February 11 STS-82 Servicing Hubble Space Telescope (HST) (HSM-2). 09 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 09 seconds
23 1997 August 7 STS-85 Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes. 11 days, 20 hours, 28 minutes, 07 seconds
24 1998 June 2 STS-91 Final Shuttle/Mir Docking Mission. 09 days, 19 hours, 55 minutes, 01 seconds
25 1998 October 29 STS-95 SPACEHAB, second flight of John Glenn, Pedro Duque becomes first Spaniard in space. 08 days, 21 hours, 44 minutes, 56 seconds
26 1999 May 27 STS-96 Resupply mission for the International Space Station. 09 days, 19 hours, 13 minutes, 57 seconds
27 1999 December 19 STS-103 Servicing Hubble Space Telescope (HST) (HSM-3A). 07 days, 23 hours, 11 minutes, 34 seconds
28 2000 October 11 STS-92 International Space Station Assembly Flight (carried and assembled the Z1 truss); 100th Shuttle mission. 12 days, 21 hours, 43 minutes, 47 seconds
29 2001 March 8 STS-102 International Space Station crew rotation flight (Expedition 1 and Expedition 2) 12 days, 19 hours, 51 minutes, 57 seconds
30 2001 August 10 STS-105 International Space Station crew and supplies delivery (Expedition 2 and Expedition 3) 11 days 21 hours, 13 minutes,52 seconds
31 2005 July 26 STS-114 Return to flight since Space Shuttle Columbia disaster; International Space Station supplies delivery, new safety procedures testing and evaluation. 13 days, 21 hours, 33 minutes, 00 seconds
32 2006 July 4 STS-121 International Space Station crew and supplies delivery. 12 days, 18 hours, 37 minutes, 54 seconds
33 2006 December 9 STS-116 International Space Station crew rotation and assembly (carries and assembles the P5 truss segment). 12 days, 20 hours, 44 minutes, 16 seconds
34 2007 October 23 STS-120 International Space Station crew rotation and assembly (carries and assembles the Harmony module).
35 NET 2008 TBD STS-124 Planned International Space Station crew rotation and assembly (carries and assembles the Kibō JEM PM module).

Decommissioning of Space Shuttle Discovery

The launch of STS-41-D, Discovery’s first mission.

References

  1. ^ NASA (2007). "Space Shuttle Overview: Discovery (OV-103)". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Discovery lands after challenging mission". CNN. 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Space Shuttle Discovery.
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