Space Shuttle Discovery

Space Shuttle Discovery, designated OV-103, is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter and was the third of the five fully operational orbiters built for NASA's Space Shuttle program. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984, and over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, more spaceflights than any other spacecraft as of December 2024. Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit and flew the second and third Hubble servicing missions, launched the Ulysses probe and three TDRS satellites, and was twice chosen as the Return to Flight orbiter, in 1988 after the loss of Challenger and in 2005 and 2006 after the loss of Columbia. It made the first shuttle docking with the International Space Station on STS-96 in 1999 and carried John Glenn on STS-95 in 1998. After its final mission, STS-133, ended on March 9, 2011, it was the first operational orbiter to be retired and is now displayed at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.