The final voyage of a space icon begins with a last-minute swap

Space · Published 18 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: On February 20, 2011, six astronauts touched down in Florida to prepare for a historic final flight. While the mission was a triumph of engineering, it was also a race against time to replace a sidelined crew member and solve a technical crisis involving the shuttle's external tank.

The STS-133 mission marked the end of an era for the Space Shuttle Program. Space shuttle Discovery, which had flown 39 missions, was scheduled for its final voyage to the International Space Station on February 24, 2011. This specific flight was the 133rd mission of the program and the 35th voyage to the orbiting outpost. The crew, led by Commander Steve Lindsey and Pilot Eric Boe, was tasked with delivering critical supplies, including the Permanent Multipurpose Module and Robonaut 2, a dexterous humanoid astronaut helper. However, the path to this final launch was fraught with technical and logistical hurdles. Commander Lindsey noted that the team had spent months grappling with a complex engineering problem regarding the external tank, which he described as the most difficult technical challenge the agency had faced in recent years.

The crew had to work together to engineer a solution that ensured the shuttle had a viable tank for its final flight. Simultaneously, the crew faced a human challenge: Mission Specialist Steve Bowen was selected just under six weeks before launch to replace Tim Kopra, who was injured in a bicycle accident on January 15. This forced the team into an accelerated training flow to bring Bowen up to speed. Despite the compressed timeline, the crew expressed confidence that they were ready to go, acknowledging the significant work Kopra had already done as the lead spacewalker and flight engineer.

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