STS-133 (Discovery)
STS-133 (Discovery)
Launch Date
February 24, 2011
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
6
STS-133 (Discovery)
STS-133 (Discovery)
Launch Date
February 24, 2011
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
6
Overview
The 39th and final flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The six-person (human) crew delivered to the International Space Station: NASA's final module, Leonardo; 3,735 kg of external equipment and spares; and the humanoid robotic ISScrewmember, Rorbonaut2. Discovery also performed the final hardware and software test of SpaceX's DragonEye sensors for the cargo Dragon resupply capsule. Upon landing, Discovery became the first Space Shuttle to retire from service, having traveled 238,539,663 km over a total of 365 days (one full year) in space. She carried 252 total crewmembers over a 27-year career, making Discovery the current spacecraft to have carried the most people to space.
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.