74-514: Space Shuttle Discovery ( Orbiter Vehicle Designation : OV-103 ) is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter . The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA 's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D , flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft to date. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle had three main components:
148-606: A Northwest Passage . Other ships bearing the name have included HMS Discovery of the 1875–1876 British Arctic Expedition to the North Pole, and RRS Discovery , which carried the 1901–1904 Discovery Expedition to Antarctica , led by Captain Scott . Space Shuttle Discovery launched the Hubble Space Telescope and conducted the second and third Hubble service missions. It also launched
222-459: A 1.3-inch-thick (33 mm) optical pane, and an external thermal pane. The windows were tinted with the same ink used to make American banknotes . The Space Shuttle orbiter had three sets of landing gear which emerged downwards through doors in the heat shield. As a weight-saving measure, the gear could not be retracted once deployed. Since any premature extension of the landing gear would very likely have been catastrophic (as it opened through
296-597: A 180-degree turn at a speed of 8,400 kilometres per hour (5,200 mph), or 6.7 times the speed of sound , in order to land at the Kennedy Space Center runway. The mission was canceled when astronauts refused to fly it, having deemed the plan to be too dangerous. STS-1 commander John W. Young recalled that "I said no. I said let's not practice Russian roulette , because you may have a loaded gun there. So we didn't." Backup Payload Specialists: Lichtenberg subsequently flew aboard STS-45 (ATLAS-1). Lampton
370-476: A modified marking scheme for the shuttle fleet that would be matched by Discovery , Atlantis and Endeavour . The letters "USA" in black above an American flag were displayed on the left wing, with the NASA "worm" logotype in gray centered above the name of the orbiter in black on the right wing. Also, the name of the orbiter was inscribed not on the payload bay doors, but on the forward fuselage just below and behind
444-617: Is 60 ft (18 m) by 15 ft (4.6 m), and could transport 24,400 kg (53,800 lb) to 204 km (127 mi), or 12,500 kg (27,600 lb) to the ISS at 407 km (253 mi). The most massive payload launched by the Space Shuttle was the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 1999 at 50,162 lb (22,753 kg), including its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) and support equipment. The Shuttle
518-630: Is now on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum . The name Discovery was chosen to carry on a tradition based on ships of exploration, primarily HMS Discovery , one of the ships commanded by Captain James Cook during his third and final major voyage from 1776 to 1779, and Henry Hudson 's Discovery , which was used in 1610–1611 to explore Hudson Bay and search for
592-642: The Challenger and Columbia disasters: STS-26 in 1988, STS-114 in 2005, and STS-121 in 2006. Discovery flew the ante-penultimate mission of the Space Shuttle program, STS-133 , having launched on February 24, 2011. Endeavour flew STS-134 and Atlantis performed STS-135 , NASA's last Space Shuttle mission. On February 24, 2011, Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39-A to begin its final orbital flight. ‡ Longest shuttle mission for Discovery – shortest shuttle mission for Discovery The Flow Director
666-572: The Ulysses probe and three TDRS satellites. Twice Discovery was chosen as the "Return To Flight" Orbiter, first in 1988 after the loss of Challenger in 1986, and then again for the twin "Return To Flight" missions in July 2005 and July 2006 after the Columbia disaster in 2003. Project Mercury astronaut John Glenn , who was 77 at the time, flew with Discovery on STS-95 in 1998, making him
740-1070: The Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois but was later transferred to the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma . The Motion Base Simulator was transferred to the Texas A&;M Aerospace Engineering Department in College Station, Texas , and the Guidance and Navigation Simulator went to the Wings of Dreams Aviation Museum in Starke, Florida . NASA also made approximately 7,000 TPS tiles available to schools and universities. Data from General characteristics Performance The cargo bay
814-602: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration . Orbiter Vehicle Designation The Space Shuttle orbiter is the spaceplane component of the Space Shuttle , a partially reusable orbital spacecraft system that was part of the discontinued Space Shuttle program . Operated from 1981 to 2011 by NASA , the U.S. space agency, this vehicle could carry astronauts and payloads into low Earth orbit , perform in-space operations, then re-enter
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#1732787414993888-598: The STS Flight Assignment Baseline , an internal NASA document published in October 1977, are presented below. Later in the development process, NASA suggested using the first crewed Space Shuttle mission, STS-1 , as a sub-orbital test of the Return to Launch Site (RTLS) flight profile devised for emergency abort scenarios. Columbia would have launched from Kennedy Space Center, then executed
962-538: The Smithsonian Institution 's National Air and Space Museum for public display and preservation, after a month-long decontamination process, as part of the national collection. Discovery replaced Enterprise , which was in the Smithsonian's display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center until 2011. Discovery was transported to Washington Dulles International Airport on April 17, 2012, and
1036-560: The Space Shuttle orbiter , a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters . Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry. Discovery became the third operational orbiter to enter service, preceded by Columbia and Challenger . After the Challenger and Columbia accidents, Discovery became the oldest surviving orbiter. It embarked on its final mission, STS-133 , on February 24, 2011, and touched down for
1110-504: The American flag above the orbiter's name, left-justified rather than centered, on the right wing. The three surviving flight vehicles, Discovery , Atlantis and Endeavour , still bear these markings as museum displays. Enterprise became the property of the Smithsonian Institution in 1985 and was no longer under NASA's control when these changes were made, hence the prototype orbiter still has its 1983 markings and still has its name on
1184-781: The Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility , Florida, except STS-3 at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Similar special clearances (no-fly zones) were also in effect at potential emergency landing sites, such as in Spain and in West Africa during all launches. When an orbiter landing was carried out at night, the runway was always strongly illuminated with light from floodlights and spotlights on
1258-872: The Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center , replacing Enterprise which was moved to the Intrepid Museum in New York City . Endeavour went to the California Science Center in Los Angeles arriving on October 14, 2012. Atlantis went to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Merritt Island on November 2, 2012. Hundreds of other shuttle artifacts will be put on display at various other museums and educational institutions around
1332-767: The U.S. One of the Crew Compartment Trainer Flight and mid-deck training hardware is on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force , while the other is on display at the JSC. The Full Fuselage Trainer, which includes the payload bay and aft section but no wings, is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington . The Mission Simulation and Training Facility's Shuttle Mission Simulator Fixed Base Simulator originally went to
1406-573: The Udvar-Hazy Center, riding piggy-back on a modified Boeing 747 . After STS-105 , Discovery became the first of the orbiter fleet to undergo Orbiter Major Modification (OMM) period at the Kennedy Space Center. Work began in September 2002 to prepare the vehicle for Return to Flight. The work included scheduled upgrades and additional safety modifications. Discovery was decommissioned on March 9, 2011. NASA offered Discovery to
1480-675: The air, and covered in silicon borides and borosilicate glass , with blacker tiles covering the lower surface, and whiter tiles covering the tail, parts of the upper wing and crew cabin surfaces, and the outsides of the payload bay doors. The nose cap, nose landing gear doors, and leading edges were made of reinforced carbon–carbon , which is rayon impregnated with graphite -filled resins and coated in silicon carbide . The upper, white materials that were not in tiles were mostly made of either Nomex felt coated in silicon -rich elastomer or beta cloth , woven silica fibers covered in Teflon . This
1554-645: The atmosphere and land as a glider , returning its crew and any on-board payload to the Earth. Six orbiters were built for flight: Enterprise , Columbia , Challenger , Discovery , Atlantis , and Endeavour . All were built in Palmdale, California , by the Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania -based Rockwell International company's North American Aircraft Operations branch. The first orbiter, Enterprise , made its maiden flight in 1977. An unpowered glider, it
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#17327874149931628-545: The attitude of the orbiter during most of its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere – until the air became dense enough that the rudder, elevons and body flap became effective. The orbiter's OMS and RCS fuel is monomethyl hydrazine (CH 3 NHNH 2 ), and the oxidizer is dinitrogen tetroxide (N 2 O 4 ). This particular propellant combination is extremely reactive and spontaneously ignites on contact (hypergolic) with each other. This chemical reaction (4CH 3 NHNH 2 + 5N 2 O 4 → 9N 2 + 4CO 2 + 12H 2 O) occurs within
1702-456: The cockpit windows. This would make the name visible when the orbiter was photographed in orbit with the doors open. Challenger also had black tiles on the tip of its vertical stabilizer much like Columbia , which the other orbiters lacked. In 1983, Enterprise had its wing markings changed to match Challenger , and the NASA "worm" logotype on the aft end of the payload bay doors was changed from gray to black. Some black markings were added to
1776-413: The direction of their thrust. Hence, they steered the entire Space Shuttle, as well as providing rocket thrust towards orbit. The aft fuselage also housed three auxiliary power units (APU). The APUs chemically converted hydrazine fuel from a liquid state to a gas state , powering a hydraulic pump which supplied pressure for all of the hydraulic system, including the hydraulic sub-system that pointed
1850-417: The end of the mission. The hydrogen and oxygen for the fuel cells was kept in pairs of cryogenic storage tanks in the mid-fuselage underneath the payload bay liner, and a variable number of such tank sets could be installed (up to five pairs) depending on the requirements of the mission. The three fuel cells were capable of generating 21 kilowatts of power continuously (or a 15-minute peak of 36 kilowatts) with
1924-452: The engine's combustion chamber. The reaction products are then expanded and accelerated in the engine bell to provide thrust. Due to their hypergolic characteristics these two chemicals are easily started and restarted without an ignition source, which makes them ideal for spacecraft maneuvering systems. During the early design process of the orbiter, the forward RCS thrusters were to be hidden underneath retractable doors, which would open once
1998-507: The external tank. Two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) thrusters were mounted in two separate removable pods on the orbiter's aft fuselage, located between the SSMEs and the vertical stabilizer. The OMS engines provided significant thrust for course orbital maneuvers , including insertion, circularization, transfer, rendezvous, deorbit, abort to orbit, and to abort once around . At lift-off, two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) were used to take
2072-417: The federally owned Plant 42 complex. Each NASA Space Shuttle designation was composed of a prefix and suffix separated by a dash. The prefix for operational shuttles is OV, for Orbiter Vehicle . The suffix is composed of two parts: the series and the vehicle number; "0" was used for non-flight ready orbiters, and "1" was used for flight-ready orbiters. The vehicle number is sequentially assigned within
2146-536: The final Shuttle flight, STS-135 , on July 21, 2011. In addition to their crews and payloads, the reusable orbiter carried most of the Space Shuttle System 's liquid-propellant rocket system, but both the liquid hydrogen fuel and the liquid oxygen oxidizer for its three main rocket engines were fed from an external cryogenic propellant tank . Additionally, two reusable solid rocket boosters (SRBs) provided additional thrust for approximately
2220-524: The first two minutes of launch. The orbiters themselves did carry hypergolic propellants for their Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters and Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines. About the size of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 , the Space Shuttle orbiter resembled an airplane in its design, with a standard-looking fuselage and two double delta wings, both swept wings at an angle of 81 degrees at their inner leading edges and 45 degrees at their outer leading edges. The vertical stabilizer of
2294-560: The flight phases of launching, orbiting , and re-entry. This system also executed any needed orbital maneuvers, including all changes in the orbit's altitude, orbital plane , and eccentricity . These were all operations that required more thrust and impulse than mere attitude control. The forward rockets of the Reaction Control System, located near the nose of the Space Shuttle orbiter, included 14 primary and two vernier RCS rockets. The aft RCS engines were located in
Space Shuttle Discovery - Misplaced Pages Continue
2368-475: The floor of the mid-deck and contained air and water tanks in addition to the carbon dioxide scrubbing system. Three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) were mounted on the orbiter's aft fuselage in the pattern of an equilateral triangle . These three liquid-fueled engines could be swiveled 10.5 degrees vertically and 8.5 degrees horizontally during the rocket-powered ascent of the orbiter in order to change
2442-480: The ground, making landing lights on the orbiter unnecessary and also an unneeded spaceflight weight load. A total of 26 landings took place at night, the first being STS-8 in September 1983. The typeface used on the Space Shuttle orbiter was Helvetica . The prototype orbiter Enterprise originally had a flag of the United States on the upper surface of the left wing and the letters "USA" in black on
2516-513: The heat shield layers), the landing gear could only be lowered by manual controls, and not by any automatic system. Similarly, since the Shuttle landed at high speed and could not abort its landing attempt, the gear had to deploy reliably on the first try every time. The gear were unlocked and deployed by triple redundant hydraulics, with the gear doors actuated by mechanical linkages to the gear strut. If all three hydraulic systems failed to release
2590-472: The landing gear uplocks within one second of the release command, pyrotechnic charges automatically cut the lock hooks and a set of springs deployed the gear. During landing, the Shuttle nose wheel could be steered with the rudder pedals in the cockpit. During the construction of Space Shuttle Endeavour , an improved nose wheel steering system was developed which allowed easier and more effective nose wheel steering. After Endeavour 's roll-out,
2664-416: The last time at Kennedy Space Center on March 9, having spent a cumulative total of nearly a full year in space. Discovery performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions, and also carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit among other satellites. Discovery was the first operational shuttle to be retired, followed by Endeavour and then Atlantis . The shuttle
2738-480: The middle starboard window where there should have been white tiles. It is unknown if this was the result of a harmless manufacturing mishap or done intentionally to give a distinctive look to the shuttle. This feature has been called 'teardrop' and allowed Discovery to be told apart from the rest of the fleet without looking at its name, although often unnoticed by the uninitiated. The spacecraft weighed roughly 6,870 lb (3,120 kg) less than Columbia when it
2812-636: The navies of the world (though the test orbiter Enterprise , originally to be named " Constitution ", had its name changed after the Star Trek starship , itself named after a series of US Navy ships ), and they were also numbered using the NASA Orbiter Vehicle designation system. Three of the names had also been given to Apollo spacecraft between 1969 and 1972: Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia , Apollo 15 Command Module Endeavour , and Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger . While all of
2886-514: The nose, cockpit windows and vertical tail to more closely resemble the flight vehicles, but the name "Enterprise" remained on the payload bay doors as there was never any need to open them. Columbia had its name moved to the forward fuselage to match the other flight vehicles after STS-61-C , during the 1986–1988 hiatus when the shuttle fleet was grounded following the loss of Challenger , but retained its original wing markings until its last overhaul (after STS-93 ), and its unique black chines for
2960-401: The oldest person to go into space at that time in history. Had plans to launch United States Department of Defense payloads from Vandenberg Air Force Base gone ahead, Discovery would have become the dedicated US Air Force shuttle. Its first West Coast mission, STS-62-A , was scheduled for 1986, but canceled in the aftermath of the Challenger disaster . On May 27, 1999, Discovery
3034-502: The operational orbiters and test articles produced for use in the Shuttle program, there are also various mockup replicas on display throughout the United States: Canceled Space Shuttle missions During NASA 's Space Shuttle program , several missions were canceled. Many were canceled as a result of the Challenger and the Columbia disasters or due to delays in the development of
Space Shuttle Discovery - Misplaced Pages Continue
3108-567: The orbiter consuming an average of about 14 kilowatts of that power (leaving 7 kilowatts for the payload). Additionally, the fuel cells provided potable water for the crew during the mission. The orbiter's computer system consisted of five identical IBM AP-101 avionics computers, which redundantly controlled the vehicle's on-board systems. The specialized HAL/S programming language was used for orbiter systems. The orbiters were protected by Thermal Protection System (TPS) materials (developed by Rockwell Space Systems ) inside and out, from
3182-422: The orbiter had a leading edge that was swept back at a 45-degree angle. There were four elevons mounted at the trailing edges of the delta wings, and the combination rudder and speed brake was attached at the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer . These, along with a movable body flap located underneath the main engines, controlled the orbiter during later stages of reentry . The prime contractor for
3256-532: The orbiter reached space. These were omitted in favor of flush-mounted thrusters for fear that the RCS doors would remain stuck open and endanger the crew and orbiter during re-entry. The orbiter's flight deck or cockpit originally had 2,214 controls and displays, about three times as many as the Apollo command module . The crew cabin consisted of the flight deck, the mid-deck, and the utility area. The uppermost of these
3330-627: The orbiter underwent a nine-month Orbiter Maintenance Down Period (OMDP) in Palmdale, California . This included outfitting the vehicle with a 5th set of cryogenic tanks and an external airlock to support missions to the International Space Station . As with all the orbiters, it could be attached to the top of specialized aircraft and did so in June 1996 when it returned to the Kennedy Space Center, and later in April 2012 when sent to
3404-536: The orbiter was Rockwell International, which built the pressurized cabin, thermal protection, forward attitude control system, and forward and aft fuselage in its Downey, California factory, the payload bay doors in its Tulsa, Oklahoma factory, and the body flap in its Columbus, Ohio factory. Subcontractors included Convair in San Diego for the midsection, Fairchild Aircraft in Farmingdale, New York for
3478-456: The orbiter were also located on the mid-deck, as well as the airlock . The airlock had an additional hatch into the payload bay. This airlock allowed two or three astronauts, wearing their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suits, to depressurize before a walk in space ( EVA ), and also to repressurize and re-enter the orbiter at the conclusion of the EVA. The utility area was located under
3552-406: The orbiter's outer surface to the payload bay. The TPS protected it from the cold soak of −121 °C (−186 °F) in space to the 1,649 °C (3,000 °F) heat of re-entry. The tile materials comprising much of the orbiter's outermost layer were mostly air held within near-pure silica fibers, which made it efficient at refractory insulation that absorbed and redirected heat back out into
3626-651: The orbiters were externally practically identical, they had minor differences in their interiors. New equipment for the Orbiters was installed in the same order that they underwent maintenance work, and the newer orbiters were constructed by Rockwell International, under NASA supervision, with some more advanced, lighter in weight, structural elements. Thus, the newer orbiters ( Discovery , Atlantis and Endeavour ) had slightly more cargo capacity than Columbia or Challenger . The Space Shuttle orbiters were assembled at Rockwell's assembly facility in Palmdale, California , at
3700-403: The payload bay doors. With the end of the Shuttle program, plans were made to place the three remaining Space Shuttle orbiters on permanent display. NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. announced the disposition location of the orbiters on April 12, 2011, the 50th anniversary of the first human space flight and the 30th anniversary of the first flight of Columbia . Discovery went to
3774-469: The remainder of its operational life. Beginning in STS-95 (1998), the flight vehicles' markings were modified to incorporate the NASA "meatball" insignia . The "worm" logotype, which the agency had phased out, was removed from the payload bay doors and the "meatball" insignia was added aft of the "United States" text on the lower aft fuselage. The "meatball" insignia was also displayed on the left wing, with
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#17327874149933848-513: The right wing. The name "Enterprise" in black was painted on the payload bay doors just above the forwardmost hinge and behind the crew module; on the aft end of the payload bay doors was the NASA "worm" logotype in gray. Underneath the rear of the payload bay doors on the side of the fuselage just above the wing was the text "United States" in black with a flag of the United States ahead of it. The first operational orbiter, Columbia , originally had
3922-431: The same markings as Enterprise , although the letters "USA" on the right wing were slightly larger and spaced farther apart. Columbia also had black tiles which Enterprise lacked on its forward RCS module, around the cockpit windows, and on its vertical stabilizer. Columbia also had distinctive black chines on the forward part of its upper wing surfaces, which none of the other orbiters had. Challenger established
3996-545: The series, beginning with 1. Therefore, there can never be an OV-100 as it would read "Orbiter Vehicle Series 1 Vehicle 0". Many proposals to build a second generation of orbiters, externally compatible with the current system but internally new, refer to them as "OV-200" or "OV-2xx" in order to differentiate them from the "first generation", the OV-100s. This terminology is informal, and it is unlikely that any Shuttle-derived vehicle built will be given such designation. Challenger
4070-410: The shuttle. Others were canceled because of changes in payload and mission requirements. In 1972, NASA's planners had projected for 570 Space Shuttle missions between 1980 and 1991. Later, this estimate was lowered to 487 launches between 1980 and 1992. The details of the first 23 projected missions, listed in the third edition of Manned Spaceflight ( Reginald Turnill , 1978) and the first edition of
4144-520: The system was installed on the other shuttles during their overhauls in the early 1990s. The Space Shuttle orbiter did not carry anti-collision lights , navigational lights , or landing lights , because the orbiter always landed in areas that had been specially cleared by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Air Force . The orbiter always landed at either Edwards Air Force Base , California or at
4218-430: The three main liquid-fueled rocket engines, under computerized flight control . The hydraulic pressure generated was also used to control all of the orbiter's flight control surfaces (the elevons, rudder, speed brake, etc.), to deploy the landing gear of the orbiter, and to retract the umbilical hose connection doors located near the rear landing gear, which supplied the orbiter's SSMEs with liquid hydrogen and oxygen from
4292-597: The two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods at the rear of the orbiter, and these included 12 primary (PRCS) and two vernier (VRCS) engines in each pod. The PRCS system provided the pointing control of the Orbiter, and the VRCS was used for fine maneuvering during the rendezvous, docking, and undocking maneuvers with the International Space Station , or formerly with the Russian Mir space station . The RCS also controlled
4366-470: The vehicle to an altitude of roughly 140,000 feet. Electric power for the orbiter's subsystems was provided by a set of three hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells which produced 28 volt DC power and was also converted into 115 volt 400 Hz AC three-phase electric power (for systems that used AC power ). These provided power to the entire Shuttle stack (including the SRBs and ET) from T-minus 3m30s up through
4440-635: The vertical stabilizer, Grumman in Bethpage, New York for the wings, Marquardt Corporation in Van Nuys, California for the attitude control propulsion, Aerojet in Rancho Cordova, California for the orbital insertion and deorbit propulsion, McDonnell Douglas for the surrounding pods, and Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, Los Angeles for the launch and ascent propulsion. Final assembly
4514-507: The white LRSI tiles on the fuselage, and the use of graphite epoxy instead of aluminum for the payload bay doors and some of the wing spars and beams. Upon its delivery to the Kennedy Space Center in 1983, Discovery was modified alongside Challenger to accommodate the liquid-fueled Centaur-G booster, which had been planned for use beginning in 1986 but was cancelled in the wake of the Challenger disaster. Beginning in late 1995,
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#17327874149934588-411: Was destroyed in a disaster shortly after its 10th launch, killing all seven crew members. Endeavour was built as Challenger ' s successor, and was first launched in 1992. In 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry , leaving just three remaining orbiters. Discovery completed its final flight on March 9, 2011, and Endeavour completed its final flight on June 1, 2011. Atlantis completed
4662-407: Was below the flight deck, was normally equipped with up to three additional stowable seats, depending on the crew requirements of the mission. One mission carried four seats ( STS-61-A ) and NASA drew up plans that were never used to carry up to seven seats in the case of an emergency rescue ( STS-400 ). The galley, toilet, sleep locations, storage lockers, and the side hatch for entering and exiting
4736-483: Was brought into service due to optimalizations determined during the construction and testing of Enterprise , Columbia and Challenger . Discovery weighs 6 pounds (2.7 kg) heavier than Atlantis and 363 pounds (165 kg) heavier than Endeavour after further weight-saving adjustments were made. Part of the Discovery weight optimizations included the greater use of quilted AFRSI blankets rather than
4810-404: Was capable of returning approximately 16,000 kg (35,000 lb) of cargo to Earth. The orbiter's maximum glide ratio / lift-to-drag ratio varied considerably with speed, ranging from 1:1 at hypersonic speeds , 2:1 at supersonic speeds , and reaching 4.5:1 at subsonic speeds during approach and landing. Individual Space Shuttle orbiters were named in honor of antique sailing ships of
4884-641: Was carried by a modified Boeing 747 airliner called the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and released for a series of atmospheric test flights and landings. Enterprise was partially disassembled and retired after completion of critical testing. The remaining orbiters were fully operational spacecraft, and were launched vertically as part of the Space Shuttle stack. Columbia was the first space-worthy orbiter; it made its inaugural flight in 1981. Challenger , Discovery , and Atlantis followed in 1983, 1984, and 1985 respectively. In 1986, Challenger
4958-427: Was carried out at United States Air Force Plant 42 near Palmdale, California . The Reaction Control System (RCS) was composed of 44 small liquid-fueled rocket thrusters and their very sophisticated fly-by-wire flight control system , which utilized computationally intensive digital Kalman filtering . This control system carried out the usual attitude control along the pitch, roll, and yaw axes during all of
5032-472: Was especially true in the interior of the payload bay. The orbiter's structure was made primarily from aluminum alloy , although the engine thrust structure was made from titanium alloy . The later orbiters ( Discovery , Atlantis and Endeavour ) substituted graphite epoxy for aluminum in some structural elements in order to reduce weight. The windows were made of aluminum silicate glass and fused silica glass, and comprised an internal pressure pane,
5106-507: Was given to the set of structural components manufactured to replace those used in the construction of Endeavour ; however, the contract for these was canceled shortly afterwards, and they were never completed. The "096" and "097" designators were given to structural test articles that were canceled, but while they exist in some NASA records, the NASA History Office has no official record of STA-096 and STA-097. In addition to
5180-485: Was launched on STS-96 , the first shuttle mission to dock with the International Space Station . Discovery was retired after completing its final mission, STS-133 on March 9, 2011. The spacecraft is now on display in Virginia at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center , an annex of the Smithsonian Institution 's National Air and Space Museum . During its construction, Discovery was fitted with several black tiles near
5254-429: Was originally intended to be used as a Structural Test Article (STA), rather than a flight-capable orbiter; as such, the numbering was changed when it was rebuilt. Enterprise , on the other hand, was intended to be rebuilt into a flight-capable orbiter; it was found to be cheaper to rebuild STA-099 than OV-101, so it remained unflown. The designations were not altered, despite these changes in plans. An "OV-106" designation
5328-476: Was responsible for the overall preparation of the shuttle for launch and processing it after landing, and remained permanently assigned to head the spacecraft's ground crew while the astronaut flight crews changed for every mission. Each shuttle's Flow Director was supported by a Vehicle Manager for the same spacecraft. Space Shuttle Discovery' s Flow Directors were: [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of
5402-399: Was the flight deck, in which sat the Space Shuttle's commander and pilot in permanently fixed seats with up to two mission specialists seated behind them in stowable seats. The mission specialist in seat four (located behind and between commander and pilot) served as the flight engineer during ascent and landing, tracking information from CAPCOM and calling out milestones. The mid-deck, which
5476-649: Was transferred to the Udvar-Hazy on April 19 where a welcome ceremony was held. Afterwards, at around 5:30 pm, Discovery was rolled to its "final wheels stop" in the Udvar Hazy Center. By its last mission, Discovery had flown 149 million mi (240 million km) in 39 missions, completed 5,830 orbits, and spent 365 days in orbit over 27 years. Discovery flew more flights than any other Orbiter Shuttle, including four in 1985 alone. Discovery flew both "return to flight" missions after
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