Space Shuttle Discovery

Discovery
OV-103
Space Shuttle Discovery being prepared for mission STS-121. OV Designation: OV-103 Country: United StatesContract award: 29 January 1979Named after: RRS DiscoveryFirst flight: STS-41-D
August 30, 1984– September 5, 1984Last flight: STS-124
May 31st, 2008- June 14th, 2008Number 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.

1 History
2 Current status
3 Flights
- 3.1 Notable missions
4 Flights listing
5 Decommissioning of Space Shuttle Discovery
6 Gallery
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

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.

Current status

Discovery has landed safely at Kennedy Space Center runway 15, following successful mission STS-124.

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.

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.

Flights listing

# Date Designation Notes Length of journey 1 1984 August 30 STS-41-DFirst Discovery mission: Launched two communications satellites, including LEASAT F2. 6 days, 00 hours, 56 minutes, 04 seconds 2 1984 November 8 STS-51-ALaunched two and rescued two communications satellites including LEASAT F1. 7 days, 23 hours, 44 minutes, 56 seconds 3 1985 January 24 STS-51-CLaunched DODMagnum ELINTsatellite. 3 days, 01 hours, 33 minutes, 23 seconds 4 1985 April 12 STS-51-DLaunched two communications satellites including LEASAT F3. 6 days, 23 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds 5 1985 June 17 STS-51-GLaunched two communications satellites, Sultan Salman al-Saudbecomes first Saudi Arabianin space. 7 days, 01 hours, 38 minutes, 52 seconds 6 1985 August 27 STS-51-ILaunched two communications satellites including LEASAT F4. Recovered LEASAT F3. 7 days, 02 hours, 17 minutes, 42 seconds 7 1988 September 29 STS-26Return to flight after Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, launched TDRS. 4 days, 01 hours, 00 minutes, 11 seconds 8 1989 March 13 STS-29Launched TDRS. 4 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 52 seconds 9 1989 November 22 STS-33Launched DOD Magnum ELINT satellite. 5 days, 00 hours, 06 minutes, 49 seconds 10 1990 April 24 STS-31Launch of Hubble Space Telescope(HST). 5 days, 01 hours, 16 minutes, 06 seconds 11 1990 October 6 STS-41Launch of Ulysses. 4 days, 02 hours, 10 minutes, 04 seconds 12 1991 April 28 STS-39Launched 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-42International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1). 8 days, 01 hours, 14 minutes, 44 seconds. 15 1992 December 2 STS-53Department of Defense payload. 7 days, 07 hours, 19 minutes, 47 seconds 16 1993 April 8 STS-56Atmospheric Laboratory (ATLAS-2). 9 days, 06 hours, 08 minutes, 24 seconds 17 1993 September 12 STS-51Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS). 9 days, 20 hours, 11 minutes, 11 seconds 18 1994 February 3 STS-60Wake Shield Facility (WSF). 7 days, 06 hours, 08 minutes, 36 seconds 19 1994 September 9 STS-64LIDAR In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE). 10 days, 22 hours, 49 minutes, 57 seconds 20 1995 February 3 STS-63Rendezvous with Mirspace station. 8 days, 06 hours, 29 minutes, 36 seconds 21 1995 July 13 STS-707th Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). 8 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 05 seconds 22 1997 February 11 STS-82Servicing Hubble Space Telescope(HST) (HSM-2). 9 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 09 seconds 23 1997 August 7 STS-85Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes. 11 days, 20 hours, 28 minutes, 07 seconds 24 1998 June 2 STS-91Final 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 Duquebecomes first Spaniardin space. 8 days, 21 hours, 44 minutes, 56 seconds 26 1999 May 27 STS-96Resupply mission for the International Space Station. 9 days, 19 hours, 13 minutes, 57 seconds 27 1999 December 19 STS-103Servicing Hubble Space Telescope(HST) (HSM-3A). 7 days, 23 hours, 11 minutes, 34 seconds 28 2000 October 11 STS-92International 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-102International Space Station crew rotation flight (Expedition 1and Expedition 2) 12 days, 19 hours, 51 minutes, 57 seconds 30 2001 August 10 STS-105International Space Station crew and supplies delivery (Expedition 2and Expedition 3) 11 days 21 hours, 13 minutes,52 seconds 31 2005 July 26 STS-114Return 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-121Return 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-116ISS crew rotation and assembly (carries and assembles the P5 trusssegment); 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-120ISS crew rotation and assembly (carries and assembles the Harmonymodule). 15 days, 02 hours, 23 minutes, 55 seconds* 35 2008 May 31 STS-124ISS crew rotation and assembly (carries and assembles the KibōJEM 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 arraysand batteries.

* Longest shuttle mission for Discovery. **Targeted date as mission has yet to launch.

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.

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.

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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