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| Earth And Its Moon, Space Shuttle Discovery, 1998 | | | |
STS-95 was a mission of the United States Space Shuttle Discovery in November 1998. It was the second space flight of John Glenn, who broke the record for oldest person to go into space. Pedro Duque became the first Spaniard in space.
Crew
* Curtis L. Brown (5), Commander
* Steven W. Lindsey (2), Pilot
* Scott E. Parazynski (3), Mission Specialist
* Stephen K. Robinson (2), Payload Commander
* Pedro Duque (1), (ESA) Mission Specialist
* Chiaki Mukai (2), (NASDA) Payload Specialist
* John H. Glenn (2), Payload Specialist
Space Shuttle Discovery (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of three remaining spacecraft in the space shuttle fleet belonging to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). First flown in 1984, Discovery is the third operational space shuttle, and the oldest in service. Discovery has performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions.
The spacecraft takes its name from previous ships of exploration named Discovery, primarily HMS Discovery, the sailing ship that accompanied famous explorer James Cook on his third and final major voyage. Others include Henry Hudson's ship Discovery which he used in 1610–1611 to search for a Northwest Passage, and RRS Discovery, a vessel used for expeditions to Antarctica in 1901-1904 by Scott and Shackleton (and still preserved as a museum). The shuttle shares a name with Discovery One, the fictional femer-shaped Jupiter spaceship from the films 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
Discovery was the shuttle that launched the Hubble Space Telescope. The second and third Hubble service missions were also conducted by Discovery, and she is currently scheduled to perform the 5th one sometime in 2008. She has also launched the Ulysses probe and three TDRS satellites. Discovery has been chosen twice as the return to flight orbiter, first as the return to flight orbiter after the 1986 Challenger disaster in 1988, and as the orbiter for the return to flight mission in July 2005, after the 2003 Columbia disaster. Discovery also carried Project Mercury astronaut John Glenn, who was 77 at the time, back into space during STS-95 on October 29, 1998, making him the oldest human being to venture into space.
Had the planned DOD shuttle missions from Vandenberg Air Force Base gone ahead, Discovery would have flown these missions. Wikipedia |
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