Tag: Discovery

The End of an Era: Discovery Draws Eyes to Sky for Final Flight!

Space Shuttle Discovery has launched into its next era. The retired shuttle landed safely at Washington-Dulles International Airport Tuesday, where it will remain until it is moved to the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center Thursday. Eyes around the world watched as the retired spacecraft, riding atop a 747, flew low over the Capitol and surrounding areas.

According to NASA, Discovery completed 39 missions – more than any other spacecraft – and circled the earth more than 5800 times since its first launch on August 30, 1984.

To celebrate Discovery’s arrival, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is planning a festival of activities. Its Welcome Discovery program began when the orbiter arrived in the D.C. Additional activities at the Center will kick off Thursday when Discovery will be officially transferred by NASA into the Smithsonian’s collection in an outdoor ceremony that will be open to the public. 

The Welcome Discovery festival is presented in cooperation with NASA. All activities are offered free of charge but there is a $15 parking fee at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

 

Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Last Flight Is Today!

 

Man, today is a busy day.  Between the NFL Draft and the royal wedding, there’s a lot going on.  To add to the list, there’s another historic milestone about to go down that’s expected to draw 700,000 people to the beaches of Florida.  The Space Shuttle Endeavour will be making its last flight today; there’s one more shuttle flight, and then the space shuttle program undertaken by NASA over 30 years ago will end.

Over 45,000 observation tickets have been distributed by NASA, and nearly 700.000 more are expected to line the beaches and cram into beach-side parking lots to tailgate and watch the space shuttle flight.  From across the country, people have been trickling into the area surrounding the Kennedy Space Center for a chance to catch a glimpse of one of the last space shuttle flights.  Now, it’s up for the weather to cooperate until 3:45 PM Eastern time, when Endeavour takes off from Cape Canaveral to deliver an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and various other spare parts to the International Space Station.

This is Endeavor’s last flight, but the real last flight for the space shuttles will be the June 28th flight of Atlantis; Discovery’s last flight was February 24.

Space Shuttle Discovery To Fly For The Last Time

A 30-year mission is coming to an end for NASA.  Today, Space Shuttle Discovery is making its final launch from NASA Launch Pad 39A from Cape Canaveral, Florida.  The Space Shuttle flights are coming to an end, with Discovery making its 39th launch from the surface of the Earth.

Discovery is set to launch at 4:50 p.m., with a crew of six commanded by Steve Lindsey,  a retired Air Force colonel. Its 11-day mission – ferrying supplies and a humanoid robot to the International Space Station — will be its 39th since 1984, and its last.

 

Tens of thousands of people are expected to watch the launch from vantage points all along the Space Coast. Among those in the VIP area will be Florida Governor Rick Scott, watching the first launch since he took office in January, as well as U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden.

In addition to Lindsey, 50, a fighter pilot who flew dozens of missions in Iraq, the crew includes pilot Eric Boe, 45, an Air Force colonel and fellow fighter-pilot veteran, from Atlanta; and mission specialists Alvin Drew, 47; Steve Bowen, 47; Michael Barratt, 51, a medical doctor; Nicole Stott, who lived on the Space Coast for many years while working as a mission engineer at Kennedy Space Center.

The mission marks the beginning of the end of the 30-year space shuttle program. Discovery, arguably the most-storied and versatile spaceship in the fleet, should be followed by Endeavour in April, and, if all goes well, Atlantis as early as June. Then, for the first time in nearly 60 years, the United States will have no government-owned rocket ready to launch.

Delayed for various reasons since November, Discovery’s last launch will feature an interesting bit of cargo.  That would be the robotic astronaut Robonaut 2, who will be heading to the International Space Station as part of Discovery’s last mission.  It’s kind of interesting how the end of an era overlaps with the beginning of a brand new era, isn’t it?  Just think, in ten years, there’ll be unmanned space shuttles flying everywhere.

Good luck, NASA.  Here’s to a successful last mission for the old warhorse!