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Space Shuttle Discovery

Space Shuttles

Enterprise Columbia Challenger Discovery Atlantis Endeavour

Shuttle Orbiter Discovery (NASA Designation: OV-103) is a NASA Space Shuttle.

First flown on August 30, 1984, Discovery is the third operational shuttle (excluding test shuttle 'Enterprise'). The orbiter is still operational today, and has performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions.

The craft takes its name from HMS Discovery, a ship that accompanied explorer James Cook on his third and final major voyage. Unofficially, the shuttle is named for the Discovery, the spaceship on which is set the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Flights

Space Shuttle Discovery has flown 30 flights, spent 241.95-days in space, completed 3,808 orbits, and flown 98,710,673 miles in total, as of February 2003.

Notable Missions

STS-41-D: First Flight
STS-26: Return to space after Challenger disaster
STS-114 (Spring 2005): Return to space after STS-107 (Columbia disaster)

Date	Designation	Notes
1984 August 30	STS-41-D	Launched two communications satellites
1984 November 8	STS-51-A	Launched two and rescued two communications satellites
1985 January 24	STS-51-C	Launched DOD Magnum ELINT satellite
1985 April 12	STS-51-D	Launched two communications satellites
1985 June 17	STS-51-G	Launched two communications satellites
1985 August 27	STS-51-I	Launched three communications satellites
1988 September 29	STS-26	Return to flight, launched TDRS
1989 March 13	STS-29	Launched TDRS
1989 November 22	STS-33	Launched DOD Magnum ELINT satellite
1990 April 24	STS-31	Launch of Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
1990 October 6	STS-41	Launch of Ulysses
1991 April 28	STS-39	Launched DOD Air Force Program-675 (AFP675) satellite
1991 September 12	STS-48	Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)
1992 January 22	STS-42	International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1)
1992 December 2	STS-53	Department of Defense payload
1993 April 8	STS-56	Atmospheric Laboratory (ATLAS-2)
1993 September 12	STS-51	Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS)
1994 February 3	STS-60	Wake Shield Facility (WSF)
1994 September 9	STS-64	LIDAR In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE)
1995 February 3	STS-63	Rendezvous with Mir space station
1995 July 13	STS-70	7th Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)
1997 February 11	STS-82	Servicing Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
1997 August 7	STS-85	Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes
1998 June 2	STS-91	Final Shuttle/Mir Docking Mission
1998 October 29	STS-95	Second flight of John Glenn
1999 May 27	STS-96	Resupply mission for the International Space Station
1999 December 19	STS-103	Servicing Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
2000 October 11	STS-92	International Space Station Assembly Flight
2001 March 8	STS-102	International Space Station crew rotation flight
2001 August 10	STS-105	International Space Station crew and supplies delivery

See also

• Shuttle Buran