The space shuttle Discovery may be the most successful spacecraft in history. She launched the Hubble telescope and carried more crews safely to and from space than any other ship. She was first to bring a satellite back to Earth; first to have a female pilot at the helm; first to carry the oldest person into space -- 77-year-old John Glenn; first to host an African-American space walker; and first to fly a member of Congress into orbit, Utah Senator Jake Garn.Just shy of 40 successful space journeys, the NASA shuttle Discovery headed to the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday on a final mission that followed repair problems and bad weather.
Known as "STS-133," Discovery's last voyage will take 11 days. The shuttle is delivering a variety of parts and modules to the space station and carrying an interesting hitchhiker --a humanoid robot named "Robonaut 2," or "R2."
"Discovery's final flight involves delivery of a last few components to the ISS," said Stevens Institute of Technology space systems engineering professor Debra Lepore, former lead engineer for the technical panel of the U.S. Congressional Space Launch Modernization Plan.
"The components can house science experiments, help expand laboratory capabilities, and increase storage space," Lepore told TechNewsWorld. "Think of them like additional rooms added to a modular home."
With Discovery in retirement, NASA will shutter its entire shuttle program after two more missions are completed.
U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords -- recovering from gunshot wounds in a Houston rehabilitation clinic -- will watch as her husband Mark Kelly joins the shuttle Endeavour crew for its final flight April 19.
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