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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. operational orbiter, and is now the oldest orbiter in service. Discovery has performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions
Discovery's launch on Wednesday is expected to be the second-to-last space shuttle mission, followed only by the scheduled launch of the shuttle Endeavour next February. An additional shuttle mission has been approved by Congress but still faces a funding review later this year.
If ultimately given the green light, the extra mission would most likely involve the shuttle Atlantis lifting off no earlier than June 2011—so either way, this week's launch will probably be the last for Discovery. .
Technically Discovery was the third of the orbiters to be built, but it's now the oldest working vehicle in NASA's shuttle fleet. During its missions,” It” has carried a variety of payloads into space, including several science experiments as well as Department of Defense satellites with still classified purposes.
Discovery is also associated with a number of notable firsts in human spaceflight history. It was the first space shuttle to rendezvous with Russia's Mirspace station in 1995, the first shuttle to transport a U.S. Congressman into space (Utah senator Jake Garn, in April 1985), and the first U.S. spacecraft to carry a Russian cosmonaut (Sergei Krikalev, in February 1994).
Discovery's crews have included the first African-American mission commander (Frederick D. Gregory, in November 1989), the first woman to pilot a spacecraft (Eileen Collins, in February 1995), and the oldest person to fly in space (a 77-year-old John Glenn, in October 1998).
When Discovery embarks on its last mission this week, the space shuttle will rack up a final first that could be a preview of things to come in space exploration. In addition to carrying a storage module for the International Space Station, Discovery will deliver the first humanoid robot in space . designed to assist the astronauts both inside and eventually out side the space station.
Via:nationalgeographic
