The space shuttle Discovery, unquestionably the sturdiest workhorse in the history of NASA, took off from Cape Canaveral without a hitch Thursday afternoon, setting out on its final mission before being decommissioned.
Discovery is headed to the International Space Station to add the Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo, destined to provide additional storage.
Steven Lindsey, who stepped down from his position as chief of the NASA Astronaut Office to make his fifth trip into space, commands the mission. Eric Boe is piloting Discovery. There are four crewmen -- Nicole Stott, Benjamin Drew, Michael Barratt and Stephen Bowen who replaced the injured Michael Kopra.
"Good to be here," Lindsey radioed after the shuttle reached orbit.
First taking flight in 1984, this final assignment marks the 39th time Discovery has soared into space, making the shuttle the most traveled space ship in human history.Over its lifespan to date, Discovery logged 351 days in space, orbiting the Earth 5,628 times. Discovery has logged nearly 143 million miles, more than any other reusable spacecraft. It has flown 38 missions and docked with the International Space Station 12 times previously.
Discovery took part in a number of milestones for the American space program. NASA turned toDiscovery when manned space flight resumed after the destruction of two other space shuttles -- Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. When NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, they once again turned to Discovery.
In 1998, John Glenn, then serving his final months as a Democratic U.S. senator from Ohio but best known for being the first American to orbit the Earth in space back in 1962, was on Discovery -- making him, at age 77, the oldest man ever to fly in space. Discovery also achieved the highest known altitude for shuttle flight. After decommissioning, the shuttle will be handed over to the Smithsonian.
There will be at least one more space shuttle flight. Endeavor --led by Mark Kelly, husband of wounded Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords --is scheduled for launch in April. There are also plans to launch Atlantis in June -- the 135th and final space shuttle flight.
Hundreds of miles away in Tallahassee, legislators who were in town for committee hearings before the legislative session, were excited about the launch --posting their thoughts and prayers on Twitter.
For the first time in history, they will be broadcasting the shuttle launch live in the House chambers in Tally! noted Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, chairman of the Space Caucus. Godspeed Discovery!
Good luck STS-133 and crew, wrote Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859. Reach Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
