Science

Farewell Discovery: Longest-Lived Shuttle's Greatest Hits

The space shuttle Discovery returned to Earth for the last time this morning, ending its reign as the world’s longest running and most-traveled spaceship.
  • Space shuttle Discovery
  • Space shuttle Discovery
  • Discovery's backflip
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The space shuttle Discovery returned to Earth for the last time this morning, ending its reign as the world's longest running and most-traveled spaceship. "It just played out the way we wanted it to," said Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana in a press conference after the landing. "We wanted to go out on a high note, and Discovery has done that. We couldn't ask for more." When it touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:57 EST on March 9, 2011, Discovery had flown 39 missions, spent a full 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times and traveled more than of 148 million miles. It has carried 246 people into space, more than any other vehicle, including the first woman to ever pilot a spacecraft, the oldest person to fly in space, the first African-American to perform a spacewalk and the first sitting member of Congress to fly in space. The shuttle's 27-year career hit several of the highlights of the space program, including delivering the Hubble Space Telescope to orbit in 1990 (and fixing it twice), carrying a 77-year-old John Glenn back into space in 1998, and leading NASA's return to space after the loss of Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. On its final flight, the shuttle linked up with the International Space Station to deliver a new spare room full of supplies and science experiments, plus bring the first human-like robot into space. "We're going to miss Discovery," International Space Station commander Scott Kelly told shuttle commander Steve Lindsey on Sunday, before Discovery's crew left the space station. "Discovery has been a great ship, and has really supported the International Space Station, more so than, I think, any other space shuttle. And we wish her fair winds and following seas." Now that it's back on the ground, Discovery will retire as a museum piece at the Smithsonian. Here we look back at the veteran spacecraft's high points as the shuttle era draws to a close. Image: NASA

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