Discovery Space Shuttle
by Hayden C
Blast Off!
Discovery transport to museum
Discovery rollout celebration in 1983
Discovery in space, just after booster seperation
Establishment and Missions
The Discovery shuttle missions program was established on January 19, 1979. It is a retired orbiter of the NASA Shuttle program. It's first mission kicked off August 30, 1984 and was successful. The Discovery space shuttle executed more missions than any other spacecraft. Discovery was the 3rd operational shuttle after the Columbia and Challenger.
History
The Discovery shuttle was named after four British ships that discovered the northwest passage and the Hawaiian Islands. The captain of these ships was James Cook. The Discovery ships did not just discover those areas, but also discovered many others, such as the many islands off the coast of Australia.
Accomplishments
The Discovery Shuttle has many accomplishments, including 39 successful missions. It launched the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. If you don't what the Hubble Telescope is, it's a colossal telescope that has a great magnification capability. This is the telescope that can view galaxies, supernovae, distant stars, and many other space elements. It also launched the Ulysses probe on it's way to view and explore the sun's polar regions. It has docked at the ISS 13 times, and launched John Glenn back into orbit to become the oldest flying astronaut.
Retirement
It made its final touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center on March 9, 2011. It is the first operational shuttle to be retired. On April 17, 2012, the Discovery Shuttle was transported from the Kennedy Space Center to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum by a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier.
Discovery on display 1
Discovery on display 2
Discovery on display 3
Discovery landing for museum transport
Inside of the Discovery shuttle
Close-up of Discovery nose in museum
NASA Video: Shuttle Discovery makes final flight over US