STS-114 (Discovery)
STS-114 (Discovery)
Launch Date
July 26, 2005
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
7
STS-114 (Discovery)
STS-114 (Discovery)
Launch Date
July 26, 2005
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
7
Overview
STS-114 was the first of two Return To Flight missions for the Space Shuttle after the STS-107/Columbia accident and the second time Discovery flew the program's Return To Flight mission. The flight coincidentally launched at the exact same local time at the launch site (10:39:00 am Eastern) as when Columbia had launched on STS-107. This was the second Shuttle flight commanded by a woman. Discovery's crew resupplied the International Space Station, demonstrated some safety upgrades/improvements, and performed the first in-space repair of a Shuttle's heat shield. A large foam shedding event during launch grounded the Shuttle and proved NASA had not completely solved the issue that brought down Columbia and her crew. This and Hurricane Katrina's impact on New Orleans (where the External Tanks were built) resulted in a year-long stop of Shuttle launches.
Crafts
Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The first reusable launch and landing spacecraft, the Space Shuttle began a new chapter of human space exploration. It launched like a rocket but landed on a runway like a plane. Shuttle crews deployed dozens of commercial satellites and two interplanetary probes to Venus and Jupiter. The Shuttle served as a mini space station and hosted hundreds of biomedical, psychological, physiological, materials science, and physics experiments that have directly benefited life on Earth. The five flight-worthy Shuttles -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour -- flew 135 missions over 30 years. The Shuttles helped construct the Russian Mir space station and brought nearly 80% of the International Space Station to orbit. Shuttles also deployed and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.