Discovery (space shuttle)
The Space Shuttle Discovery ( English for discovery ) was completed on 12 August 1983, started their maiden flight on August 30, 1984 ( STS-41-D ). The internal name for the space shuttle is OV-103, where OV stands for Orbiter Vehicle . With the landing on March 9, 2011, the space shuttle completed its last mission, STS-133 . With 39 flights, the Discovery is the most frequently used of all space vehicles.
history
The Discovery is named after one of the ships with which James Cook sailed the Pacific and discovered Hawaii in 1778 .
With 39 flights, the Discovery completed more flights than any other orbit. She was also selected for the first flight after the Challenger and Columbia disasters .
In 1990, the Discovery transported the Hubble space telescope into space .
The STS-114 mission , the first shuttle flight after the Columbia disaster in 2003, attracted a lot of attention in 2005. This flight was also accompanied by several breakdowns, which again led to the suspension of the shuttle flights.
In July 2006, Discovery successfully completed another supply flight to the International Space Station (ISS) with the STS-121 mission .
In May / June 2008, the orbiter carried out the STS-124 mission . The seven-man shuttle docked at the ISS on June 2, 2008. The main task of the mission was to bring the Japanese laboratory module Kibo to the ISS. The shuttle also brought spare parts to repair the defective space toilet in the ISS.
On August 29, 2009, the Discovery started with the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo to the ISS to deliver supplies and materials.
On February 24, 2011 at 10:53 p.m., the shuttle took off for the last time after 27 years of service with STS-133 . She docked at the ISS on February 26, 2011 at 8:14 p.m. and landed on the runway of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the last time on March 9, 2011 at 5:57 p.m. At 238.5 million kilometers, the Discovery is the furthest-traveled space shuttle in the NASA shuttle fleet.
Since April 19, 2012, the Discovery has been a museum piece in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institute near Washington Dulles International Airport. There it replaced the prototype of the space shuttles, the Enterprise .
Missions
See also
Web links
Wikinews: "Discovery" on their last trip - message- Discovery (OV-103) . Raumfahrer.net, February 2, 2002
- Discovery (OV-103) . NASA (English)
- Discovery in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
- Chronicle of the space shuttle Discovery . NASASpaceflight.com, February 22, 2011 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ STS 133 Mission Updates. NASA February 26, 2011; archived from the original on March 3, 2011 ; accessed on February 26, 2011 (English).
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