![]() ![]() The vehicle was outfitted with a 5th set of cryogenic tanks and an external airlock to support missions to the International Space Station. At rollout, its weight was some 6,870 pounds less than Columbia.īeginning in the fall of 1995, the orbiter underwent a nine-month Orbiter Maintenance Down Period (OMDP) in Palmdale California. ![]() Overland transport from Palmdale to Edwardsĭiscovery benefited from lessons learned in the construction and testing of Enterprise, Columbia and Challenger. Start initial subsystems test, power-on, Palmdale Start initial system installation upper forward fuselageĬomplete final assembly and closeout installation, Palmdale Start initial system installation, crew module, Downey Start fabrication/assembly of payload bay doors Start initial system installation aft fuselage Start structural assembly of aft-fuselage Start long lead fabrication of Crew Module Image credit: NASAĭuring its many successful trips to space, Discovery has carried satellites aloft, ferried modules and crew to the International Space Station, and provided the setting for countless scientific experiments. Image right: On February 21, 1997, the Space Shuttle Discovery touches down in darkness on Runway 15 of the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility, bringing to a close the 10-day STS-82 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). In addition, two British Royal Geographical Society ships have carried the name "Discovery" as they sailed on expeditions to the North Pole and the Antarctic.ĭestined for exploring the heavens instead of the seas, it was only fitting that NASA's Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope into space during mission STS-31 in April 1990, and provided both the second and third Hubble servicing missions (STS-82 in February 1997 and STS-103 in December 1999). One of these sailing forerunners was the vessel used in the early 1600s by Henry Hudson to explore Hudson Bay and search for a northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific.Īnother such ship was used by British explorer James Cook in the 1770s during his voyages in the South Pacific, leading to the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The choice of the name "Discovery" carried on a tradition drawn from some historic, Earth-bound exploring ships of the past. ![]() The first was for STS-26 in 1988, and the second when it carried the STS-114 crew on NASA's Return to Flight mission to the International Space Station in July 2005. Image credit: NASAĭiscovery has the distinction of being chosen as the Return to Flight orbiter twice. Image left: Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off Pad B at the Kennedy Space Center on September 12, 1993, to begin STS-51. It provided 99 upgrades and 88 special tests, including new changes to make it safer for flight. The most recent began in 2002 and was the first carried out at Kennedy. Just like all of the orbiters, it has undergone some major modifications over the years. Since that inaugural flight, Discovery has completed more than 30 successful missions, surpassing the number of flights made by any other orbiter in NASA's fleet. 30, 1984, for its first mission, 41-D, to deploy three communications satellites. Discovery (OV-103) was NASA's third space shuttle orbiter to join the fleet, arriving for the first time at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in November 1983.Īfter checkout and processing, it was launched on Aug. ![]()
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