WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:21.000 BOB SIECK: I would imagine, you could say bittersweet. It'll be an emotional event to say the least. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:26.000 BOB CABANA: Discovery gets the job done. It's flown all kinds of missions and it's done them extremely well. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:32.000 It's a great flying machine and I think that's what it's remembered for. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.000 NARRATOR: With 38 missions completed successfully, space shuttle Discovery 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:41.000 achieved a robust history of accomplishment for NASA's oldest active shuttle, 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:51.000 including two Return to Flight missions, the launch of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, and the deployment of 17 satellites. 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:58.000 Along the way, Discovery also contributed to scientific knowledge on Earth by hosting microgravity laboratories 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:05.000 in space and carrying specialized instruments that analyzed Earth's atmosphere. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:09.000 JANICE VOSS: Discovery has a role to play. You can look back on the flights that it's 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:15.000 done and on the contributions it made to forwarding the future of mankind. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.000 NARRATOR: In recent years, Discovery played an indispensible role in the 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:25.000 construction of the International Space Station, the largest spacecraft ever assembled. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.000 STEPHANIE STILSON: Whenever I see Discovery launch I definitely feel like a proud 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:30.000 parent, as do everyone that works with Discovery. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:37.000 BOB SIECK: It's the oldest orbiter in the fleet, it's flown more often than any of the other 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:46.000 orbiters and it will take that record with it, until its, when it's put away in a museum. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:52.000 NARRATOR: Now headed into space for the last time, Discovery continues pointing a way toward accomplishment. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:58.000 Its payload includes a module that astronauts and station residents will use for 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:03.000 years to come on the space station as they continue its cutting-edge research. 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:10.000 Crews will even be joined on the station by a robotic astronaut heading into space on 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.000 Discovery: Robonaut 2, the first humanoid robot to venture into space. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:18.000 STEVE LINDSEY: It's a privilege I think, for us to be able to fly it on its last flight and it's a real tribute to 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:23.000 the folks here and at the other manned spacecraft centers for all they've done to keep 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:29.000 these vehicles flying and allowing them to do all the things they do. 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:35.000 NARRATOR: Space shuttle Discovery blasted into orbit for the first time on Aug. 30, 1984. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:40.000 It made its mark on the future right away when the astronauts tested a solar array 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.000 system that would later be used on the International Space Station. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:52.000 On its second flight, STS-51A, Discovery hosted a team of astronauts that used a 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:58.000 futuristic jetpack to snare a stranded satellite and return it to Earth. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:01.000 BILL HARWOOD: It was an amazing sight to watch Joe Allen with the manned 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:04.000 maneuvering unit flying free of the shuttle, no tethers, 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:10.000 over to a satellite, which was very close by, and attach his grapple fixture and fly it back to the shuttle. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:14.000 That was an amazing thing to see. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.000 NARRATOR: Discovery went into space six times during its first year, 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:22.000 but would make perhaps its greatest impact on NASA after the Challenger accident 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.000 grounded the shuttle fleet for more than two years. 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:30.000 When NASA was ready to send its astronauts back into space again, 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:36.000 it was Discovery that rolled to the launch pad to carry out the mission, STS-26. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:47.000 BOB SEICK: STS-26 was a great event for the team. Describe how it felt, iIt felt like STS-1 all over again. 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:51.000 NARRATOR: Discovery rarely was overshadowed during its career. 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:57.000 That changed in April 1990, when the shuttle launched NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:06.000 deploying it on a mission that would alter the way we see our universe and our understanding of our place in it. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:12.000 BOB SIECK: But when Hubble came along, it was, wow, this is a different payload. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:17.000 NARRATOR: Discovery would see the Hubble telescope two more times, in February 1997, 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:26.000 and December 1999, on servicing missions that saw astronauts upgrade the telescope's instruments and systems. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:31.000 Discovery also allowed unique views of some of Earth's closest neighbors. 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:38.000 Astronaut Bob Cabana flew into space for the first time aboard Discovery in October 1990, 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:45.000 on a mission to launch the Ulysses probe on the first mission to look at the sun's north and south poles. 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:55.000 BOB CABANA: My first flight, you know, it's pretty amazing to be standing at the 195-foot level looking at this machine that's alive, 00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:01.000 it's venting, it's creaking, it's ready to go into space. It says "Discovery" on the side, you know and you just cannot believe 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:12.000 that three hours from now you're going to be inside there blasting off. You know, it's just, it's amazing, it really is. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:20.000 JANICE VOSS: Discovery was my only night launch. And standing on there with all the flood lights on Discovery, it was, it's just surreal. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:28.000 You can hear all the cryogenics. It's very quiet at night. You hear everything creaking and groaning. It's just the most amazing sight. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.000 That's what I really remember about Discovery from a visual perspective is seeing it 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:35.000 just bathed in all those really bright lights at night on the pad. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:42.000 NARRATOR: Along with its important payload, Discovery played its part in international relations, as well. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:52.000 Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev became the first Russian to fly on a shuttle during Discovery's STS-60 flight in February 1994. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:59.000 Astronaut and former senator John Glenn returned to orbit aboard Discovery in October 1998, 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:08.000 after he made history as the first American to orbit Earth on Feb. 20, 1962. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:16.000 Just as Discovery changed the people who flew aboard it, the spacecraft itself underwent numerous advances during its career. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:23.000 For example, technicians installed a "glass cockpit" in 2001 that replaced analog dials 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:28.000 and instruments with modern, digital displays. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:34.000 The spacecraft was also lightened as test instruments for its first flights were removed 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:39.000 and modifications to other systems shaved off more weight. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:49.000 Discovery and all the NASA shuttles would undergo one more metamorphosis after the Columbia accident in February 2003. 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:54.000 STEPHANIE STILSON: My proudest moment with Discovery would have to be Return to Flight after the Columbia accident. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:59.000 We basically found the problem, fixed the problem and proved to the world that we could continue flying. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:04.000 NARRATOR: Just as it had done 17 years before, Discovery took to space to prove NASA's 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:09.000 shuttle fleet was not finished marking its place in exploration history. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:18.000 MIKE LEINBACH: The overwhelming sense of the launch team was that, 'This is what we do. We have to. We have to fly again.'' 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:24.000 NARRATOR: Along with sister shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour, Discovery finished assembling the 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:31.000 International Space Station and then helped take new parts, supplies and experiments to the orbiting laboratory. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:36.000 STEVE LINDSEY: I was telling some employees here yesterday, when you walk inside Discovery and see it, 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.000 it still looks like a new car after almost 30 years of service. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:46.000 NARRATOR: Discovery is expected to be put on public display after the space shuttle retires. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:54.000 BOB SIECK: Everyone here that has ever done anything associated with an orbiter will be, will say, 'I worked on Discovery.' 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:03.000 BOB CABANA: I think Discovery's, just because it has flown so much, it has been such a work horse, it flew return to flight, 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:10.000 I think if you go back and look at all the missions its flown, it really has achieved some phenomenal successes. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.000 LAUNCH COMMENTATOR: Zero, booster ignition, and liftoff of Discovery , 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:16.000 blazing a trail of scientific discoveries aboard space station. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:22.000