Space Shuttle Discovery’s retirement party
This week Discovery* took its last flight, piggybacking a modified 747 from Kennedy Space Center to Washington D.C., where it will replace Enterprise as part of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.
NASA’s space shuttle Discovery took its maiden flight on August 30, 1984, when it carried three communications satellites for deployment. It has since completed a record-breaking 39 missions, spent 365 days in space and orbited the Earth 5,830 times. Early notable missions have included the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Ulysses spacecraft to explore the sun’s polar regions in 1990 and launching the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite in 1991. Discovery’s last launch took place on February 24, 2011.
For many, outer space continues to be awe-inspiring, and so to commemorate the retirement of the Discovery, here is a look at the historic shuttle over the years.
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- April 14, 2012: A space center worker watches over as Discovery is attached to the lifting harness in the mate-demate facility at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Discovery will be mated with a converted 747 aircraft and flown up to it’s final home at The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. (NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Carolyn Russo/Reuters)
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- April 17, 2012: The space shuttle Discovery is tethered to the back of NASA 905 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet, as it as it does a fly over of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. (Robert Markowitz/NASA/Getty Images)
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- April 17, 2012: Space shuttle Discovery is tethered to the back of NASA 905 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet, as it as it does a fly over of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. (Rebecca Roth/NASA/Getty Images)
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- April 17, 2012: Guests hold a welcome sign on the tarmac after watching the Space Shuttle Discovery and NASA’s Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (both to rear) land at Washington, Dulles International Airport (Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 18, 2012: Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) is seen a few hours before being demated at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Sterling, Virginia. Space shuttle Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, traveled total 148,221,675 miles and will take the place of Enterprise at the center to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers at the center. (NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Carolyn Russo/Reuters)
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- April 19, 2012: Space Shuttle Discovery is suspended from a sling held by two cranes shortly after the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) was pushed back from underneath at Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Virginia. (Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty Images)
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- April 19, 2012: Stephanie Harris wears a home made space shuttle hat while standing near the Space Shuttle Enterprise as it sits on a tarmac at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- April 19, 2012: Former U.S. Senator and astronaut John Glenn (C) waves to the crowd at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center for the arrival of space shuttle Discovery (back) while former shuttle commanders applaud in Virginia. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)
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- April 19, 2012: A nose-to-nose meeting of Space Shuttle Discovery, right, and Enterprise, left, at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, as Discovery is preparing to move into its new home at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum annex. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)
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- April 19, 2012: Space shuttle Discovery arrives at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, as Discovery is preparing to move into its new home at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum annex. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)
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- April 19, 2012: Space shuttle Discovery arrives at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, as Discovery is preparing to move into its new home at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum annex. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)
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- April 19, 2012: Space Shuttles Enterprise, left, and Discovery meet nose-to-nose at the beginning of a transfer ceremony at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Virginia. Space shuttle Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, traveled total 148,221,675 miles and will take the place of Enterprise at the center to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers at the center. (NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Carolyn Russo/Reuters)
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- February 24, 2011: Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-133 blasts off from the Kennedy Space Center on its final flight (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel)
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- February 26, 2011: The space shuttle Discovery is seen with Earth in the background as the shuttle approaches the International Space Station for docking in this photograph by an Expedition 26 crew member. Shuttle Discovery astronauts worked alongside the International Space Station crew on Sunday to prepare the orbital outpost for life after the United States retires its three existing spaceships. (NASA/Reuters)
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- July 4, 2006: The space shuttle Discovery blasts off from launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Discovery shuttle rocketed seven astronauts into orbit on a pivotal mission for US space ambitions amid persistent concerns about safety since the 2003 Columbia tragedy. (HO/AFP/Getty Images)
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- July 14, 2005: An alligator swims in a small pond in front of launch pad 39B as the Space Shuttle Discovery is reflected in the water at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA engineers are searching for the cause of a fuel-sensor malfunction that has kept Discovery from launching – the first shuttle mission since the 2003 Columbia accident. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- July 26, 2005: Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off from launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center as onlookers watch in Titusville, Florida. Discovery is the first shuttle launched since the Columbia disaster over two years ago. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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- July 26, 2005: Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off of launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Discovery marks NASA’s Return to Flight mission, two and a half years after the break-up of Shuttle Columbia. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- July 28, 2005: Space Shuttle Discovery is shown approaching the International Space Station prior to docking. (NASA/Getty Images)
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- August 3, 2005: The Space Shuttle Discovery docked to the Destiny laboratory of International Space Station in this image photographed by astronaut Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson. Japanese Mission specialist Soichi Noguchi is visible at lower right on Destiny. (NASA/AFP/Getty Images)
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- August 6, 2005: The sun illuminates the Earth’s atmosphere during a sunrise, seen from the Space Shuttle Discovery after departure from the International Space Station. A portion of the shuttle’s aft cargo bay, its vertical stabilizer and orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods are seen in the foreground. (AP Photo/NASA)
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Karen Thomas
Apr 21, 2012 @ 10:55:20
Thank you Discovery. Having been a child during Apollo missions. I have watched as many space shuttle missions and tragies as possible. I will look forward to visiting you in DC.