Discovery, Space Shuttle orbiter in Chantilly, United States
Discovery is a Space Shuttle orbiter displayed at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Measuring roughly 125 feet (38 meters) long and 58 feet (18 meters) tall, this spacecraft represents the engineering achievements of spaceflight history.
This orbiter completed 39 missions and flew more frequently than any other spacecraft of its kind. Following the Challenger and Columbia accidents, it became the symbol of safe spaceflight's return to the skies.
Discovery's name continues a line of exploration ships, from James Cook's HMS Discovery of 1776–1779 to Robert Falcon Scott's RRS Discovery of 1901–1904. In 1998 it carried 77-year-old Mercury astronaut John Glenn, then the oldest person in space. The asteroid (9770) Discovery was named after it in 1999.
The orbiter is located in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Udvar-Hazy Center, where visitors can view it from multiple angles. The center has parking available and is situated near the airport, making it accessible for day trips.
Look near the middle starboard window: a few black tiles sit where white ones belong, a quirk called the "teardrop" that let crews tell Discovery apart from the other orbiters without reading its name. Its cause, a manufacturing slip or a deliberate mark, is unknown.
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