Orbiter, Space Shuttle, OV-103, Discovery
name: label: Manufacturer
content: Rockwell International Corporation (Huntington and Downey, CA)
notes: label: Summary
content: Discovery was the third Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle to fly in space. It entered service in 1984 and retired from spaceflight as the oldest and most utilized orbiter. Discovery was flown on 39 Earth-orbital missions, spent a total of 365 days in space, and traveled almost 240 million kilometers (150 million miles)--more than the other orbiters. It shuttled 184 men and women into space and back, many of whom flew more than once, for a record-setting total crew count of 251.
label: Summary
content: Because Discovery flew every kind of mission the Space Shuttle was meant to fly, it embodies well the 30-year history of U.S. human spaceflight from 1981 to 2011. Named for renowned sailing ships of exploration, Discovery is preserved as intact as possible as it last flew in 2011 on the 133rd Space Shuttle mission.
label: Summary
content: NASA transferred Discovery to the Smithsonian in April 2012 after a delivery flight over the nation's capital.
label: Alternate Name
content: Space Shuttle <i>Discovery</i>
label: Brief Description
content: Discovery was the third Space Shuttle orbiter to fly in space. From 1984 to 2012, Discovery flew 39 Earth-orbital missions, spent a total of 365 days in space, and traveled almost 240 million km (150 million mi) —more than the other orbiters.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
label: Location
content: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
label: Hangar
content: James S. McDonnell Space Hangar
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A20120325000
objectType: label: Type
content: SPACECRAFT-Crewed
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Airframe: aluminum alloys, titanium
label: Materials
content: Surface: silica tiles, reinforced carbon RCC nose cap and wing leading edges
label: Materials
content: Interior: many materials (aluminum, fabric, beta cloth, velcro, etc.)
label: Dimensions
content: Overall: 24.314m x 17.768m x 38.03m, 73176.5kg (78 ft. x 57 ft. x 122 ft., 161325lb.)