Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the three currently operational orbiters in the Space Shuttle fleet of NASA, the space agency of the United States. (The other two are Atlantis and Endeavour.) When first flown in 1984, Discovery became the third operational orbiter, and is now the oldest orbiter in service. Discovery has performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions.
August 8 2009: Rollout of space shuttle Discovery was slow-going due to the onset of lightning in the area of Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. First motion of the shuttle out of the Vehicle Assembly Building was at 2:07 a.m. Aug. 4. Discovery's 13-day flight delivered a new crew member and 33,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station. The equipment includes science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Launch of Discovery on its STS-128 mission is targeted for late August. Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of Justin Dernier/EPA.
Other Images of Discovery...
(Photos from Wikipedia and NASA)
Discovery before launch in 2009 at the time of sunset.
Discovery sitting on the Boeing 747
The launch of STS-41-D, Discovery’s first mission.
STS-121 launched on US Independence Day 2007, the first shuttle to launch on July 4.
Discovery under a full moon, 3rd Nov 2009.
Discovery sits atop a Boeing 747 as it touches down.
Discovery performing the Rendezvous pitch maneuver prior to docking with the International Space Station.
The Space Shuttle Discovery soon after landing on earth.
Modified Boeing 747 carrying Discovery.
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