Space Shuttle Discovery
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| Discovery OV-103 |
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 Space Shuttle Discovery being prepared for mission STS-121. |
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| OV Designation: | OV-103 |
| Country: | United States |
| Contract award: | 29 January 1979 |
| Named after: | RRS Discovery |
| First flight: | STS-41-D August 30, 1984 – September 5, 1984 |
| Last flight: | STS-124 May 31st, 2008 - June 14th, 2008 |
| Number of missions: | 35 |
| Crews: | 214 |
| Time spent in space: | 310.60 days |
| Number of orbits: | 4,888 |
| Distance travelled: | 121,796,3162 mi 195,938,294 km |
| Satellites deployed: | 31 (including Hubble Space Telescope) |
| Mir dockings: | 1 |
| ISS dockings: | 9 |
| Status: | Active |
Space Shuttle Discovery (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the three currently operational orbiters 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.
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[edit] 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.
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.
[edit] Current status
Discovery has landed safely at Kennedy Space Center runway 15, following successful mission STS-124.
[edit] Flights
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. Discovery is the orbiter fleet leader, having flown more flights than any other orbiter in the fleet. Discovery has also flown on more individual flights than any other spacecraft in history.[citation needed] Discovery flew all three "return to flight" missions after the Challenger and Columbia disasters: STS-26 in 1988, STS-114 in 2005, and STS-121 in 2006.
[edit] Notable missions
- STS-41-D: First flight.
- STS-51-D: Carried first sitting United States Member of Congress into space, Senator Jake Garn (R-UT).
- STS-26: Return to space after Challenger disaster (STS-51-L).
- STS-31: Launch of Hubble Space Telescope.
- STS-60: First Russian launched in an American spacecraft (Sergei Krikalev).
- STS-95: Second flight of John Glenn, oldest man in space and third sitting Member of Congress to enter space.
- STS-92: The 100th Space Shuttle Mission.
- STS-114: Return to space after Columbia disaster (STS-107).
- STS-121: First Shuttle launch on the 4th of July Holiday, Return to Flight mission.
- STS-116: First night time launch of a shuttle since the Columbia disaster. Last Shuttle launch from LC-39B
- STS-120: Longest mission so far for this space shuttle.
[edit] 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. | 6 days, 00 hours, 56 minutes, 04 seconds |
| 2 | 1984 November 8 | STS-51-A | Launched two and rescued two communications satellites including LEASAT F1. | 7 days, 23 hours, 44 minutes, 56 seconds |
| 3 | 1985 January 24 | STS-51-C | Launched DOD Magnum ELINT satellite. | 3 days, 01 hours, 33 minutes, 23 seconds |
| 4 | 1985 April 12 | STS-51-D | Launched two communications satellites including LEASAT F3. | 6 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. | 7 days, 01 hours, 38 minutes, 52 seconds |
| 6 | 1985 August 27 | STS-51-I | Launched two communications satellites including LEASAT F4. Recovered LEASAT F3. | 7 days, 02 hours, 17 minutes, 42 seconds |
| 7 | 1988 September 29 | STS-26 | Return to flight after Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, launched TDRS. | 4 days, 01 hours, 00 minutes, 11 seconds |
| 8 | 1989 March 13 | STS-29 | Launched TDRS. | 4 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 52 seconds |
| 9 | 1989 November 22 | STS-33 | Launched DOD Magnum ELINT satellite. | 5 days, 00 hours, 06 minutes, 49 seconds |
| 10 | 1990 April 24 | STS-31 | Launch of Hubble Space Telescope (HST). | 5 days, 01 hours, 16 minutes, 06 seconds |
| 11 | 1990 October 6 | STS-41 | Launch of Ulysses. | 4 days, 02 hours, 10 minutes, 04 seconds |
| 12 | 1991 April 28 | STS-39 | Launched DOD Air Force Program-675 (AFP675) satellite. | 8 days, 07 hours, 22 minutes, 23 seconds |
| 13 | 1991 September 12 | STS-48 | Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). | 5 days, 08 hours, 27 minutes, 38 seconds |
| 14 | 1992 January 22 | STS-42 | International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1). | 8 days, 01 hours, 14 minutes, 44 seconds. |
| 15 | 1992 December 2 | STS-53 | Department of Defense payload. | 7 days, 07 hours, 19 minutes, 47 seconds |
| 16 | 1993 April 8 | STS-56 | Atmospheric Laboratory (ATLAS-2). | 9 days, 06 hours, 08 minutes, 24 seconds |
| 17 | 1993 September 12 | STS-51 | Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS). | 9 days, 20 hours, 11 minutes, 11 seconds |
| 18 | 1994 February 3 | STS-60 | Wake Shield Facility (WSF). | 7 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. | 8 days, 06 hours, 29 minutes, 36 seconds |
| 21 | 1995 July 13 | STS-70 | 7th Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). | 8 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 05 seconds |
| 22 | 1997 February 11 | STS-82 | Servicing Hubble Space Telescope (HST) (HSM-2). | 9 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. | 9 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. | 8 days, 21 hours, 44 minutes, 56 seconds |
| 26 | 1999 May 27 | STS-96 | Resupply mission for the International Space Station. | 9 days, 19 hours, 13 minutes, 57 seconds |
| 27 | 1999 December 19 | STS-103 | Servicing Hubble Space Telescope (HST) (HSM-3A). | 7 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 (ISS) supplies delivery, new safety procedures testing and evaluation. | 13 days, 21 hours, 33 minutes, 00 seconds |
| 32 | 2006 July 4 | STS-121 | Return to flight since Space Shuttle Columbia disaster; ISS crew and supplies delivery. | 12 days, 18 hours, 37 minutes, 54 seconds |
| 33 | 2006 December 9 | STS-116 | ISS crew rotation and assembly (carries and assembles the P5 truss segment); Last flight to launch on pad 39-B; First night launch since Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. | 12 days, 20 hours, 44 minutes, 16 seconds |
| 34 | 2007 October 23 | STS-120 | ISS crew rotation and assembly (carries and assembles the Harmony module). | 15 days, 02 hours, 23 minutes, 55 seconds* |
| 35 | 2008 May 31 | STS-124 | ISS crew rotation and assembly (carries and assembles the Kibō JEM PM module). | 13 days, 18 hours, 13 minutes, 7 secs |
| 36 | 2008 December 4 | STS-119** | Planned International Space Station crew rotation and assembly of a fourth starboard truss segment (ITS S6)and a fourth set of solar arrays and batteries. |
* Longest shuttle mission for Discovery. **Targeted date as mission has yet to launch.
[edit] Decommissioning of Space Shuttle Discovery
According to the current schedule, Space Shuttle Discovery will be decommissioned in 2010.[2][3] If the Contingency Logistic Flight STS-133 by Endeavour is not flown, Discovery will be the last space shuttle to fly on mission STS-132. NASA expects to launch the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle on the new Ares I rocket by 2014.
[edit] Gallery
 STS-121 launches, the only Independence Day shuttle launch for NASA. |
 The launch of STS-41-D, Discovery’s first mission. |
 Space Shuttle Discovery after undocking from the International Space Station on Nov. 5 2007. |
 The Space Shuttle Discovery and a Soyuz spacecraft. |
[edit] References
- ^ NASA (2007). Space Shuttle Overview: Discovery (OV-103). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
- ^ NASA (2007). Consolidated Launch Manifest. NASA. Retrieved on October 10, 2007.
- ^ Chris Bergin (2006). NASA sets new launch date targets through to STS-124. NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved on October 15, 2007.
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007) |
[edit] See also
- List of human spaceflights
- List of Space Shuttle crews
- List of space shuttle missions
- Timeline of Space Shuttle missions
- List of human spaceflights chronologically
[edit] External links
- Mission Summary Archive
- Return to Flight mission STS-114 and STS-121
- Shuttle Orbiter Discovery (OV-103)
- Night Launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery
- Discovery on Servicing Mission 2 at ESA/Hubble site
- Discovery on Servicing Mission 3A at ESA/Hubble site
- Pictures of preparations for a launch of Discovery
- 04/16/07: Consolidated Launch Manifest: Space Shuttle Flights and ISS Assembly Sequence.
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