Space Shuttle Discovery

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.

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.

Current status

Discovery is currently in the Orbiter Processing Facility for post-flight processing after the successful completion of STS-124. The next flight of Discovery will be STS-119. Rollover to the VAB is tentatively scheduled for January 5, 2009.^[2]

Flights

Discovery has flown 35 flights, spent 310,6 days in space, completed 4,888 orbits, and flown 117,433,618 miles (195,938,294 km) in total, as of June 2008. Discovery is the orbiter fleet leader, having flown more flights than any other orbiter in the fleet. 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.

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, repaired, and redeployed 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 Kib? 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.

Decommissioning of Space Shuttle Discovery

According to the current schedule, Space Shuttle Discovery will be decommissioned in 2010.^[3]^[4] 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

<gallery> Image:07042007 SpaceShuttle Discovery.jpg|STS-121 launches, the only Independence Day shuttle launch for NASA. Image:STS-121-DiscoveryEnhanced.jpg|The Space Shuttle Discovery approaches the International Space Station for docking but before the link-up occurred, the orbiter "posed" for a thorough series of inspection photos. Image:STS-41-D launch.jpg|The launch of STS-41-D, Discovery?s first mission. Image:Discovery undocking.jpg|Space Shuttle Discovery after undocking from the International Space Station on Nov. 5 2007. Image:Discovery space view.jpg|The Space Shuttle Discovery and a Soyuz spacecraft. </gallery>