Madison Hinton

Student Life Editor
The announcer on NASA TV called it “the end of a historic journey” and added, “to the ship that has led the way time and time again we say, “Farewell, Discovery.’’
“Launch director Mike Leinbach anticipated it would be ‘tough’ to see Discovery take off for the 39th and final time, and even harder when it returns March 7,” according to huffingtonpost.com.
On Feb. 24, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the space shuttle Discovery launched for the very last time.  CNN stated, “Crowds of onlookers cheered,” as it began it’s 13 day mission to the International Space Station.  “There is no doubt the space shuttle is an engineering marvel,” said NASA chief technologist Bob Braun.  The shuttle has marked its place in history forever by completing over 30 missions to space over the last 27 years.

The space shuttle was first introduced to the Kennedy Space Center in November of 1983.  It was there that it became a part of NASA’s three-shuttle fleet, joining Atlantis and Endeavor.  Its first journey to space began on Aug. 30, 1984.  The shuttle was sent into space to deploy three communication satellites.
The name ‘Discovery’ actually came from a British ship that was commanded by Captain James Cook during his third and final major voyage which took place between 1776–1779.
During its many successful trips, Discovery has carried and deployed thirty one satellites into space, transported modules and crew to the International Space Station, and provided the setting for countless scientific experiments. The duration of the shuttle’s time in space equates to a little over a year.
Its longest mission started Oct. 23, 2007, where it lasted 15 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes and 55 seconds.  On this mission, Discovery carried and assembled the Harmony Module.  Its shortest mission took place on Sept. 29, 1988, when it returned from the space shuttle Challenger’s disaster.
Discovery is most known for its launch of the Hubble Space Telescope into space, which took place on Apr. 24, 1990.  The second and third Hubble missions were also conducted by Discovery.  It also launched the Ulysses probe and three TDRS satellites.
The shuttle recently was sent into space for its final mission before retirement.  The mission launched on Feb. 24, carrying the Pressurized Multipurpose Module (PMM) Leonardo, the ELC-4 and Robonaut 2 to the International Space Station.  The shuttle returned to Earth on Mar. 9.  “The entire space shuttle system just performed outstanding on this entire mission,” the chair of NASA’s mission management team Leroy Cain told reporters on Tuesday, Mar. 8.  The shuttle will now retire at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum located in Washington D.C.