The final voyage of NASA's oldest space shuttle

Space · Published 19 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Space shuttle Discovery was about to fly its 39th and final mission. This wasn't just a routine delivery; it was the closing chapter of a 30-year program, carrying a humanoid robot and a new laboratory module into the stars one last time.

On October 28, 2010, the crew of STS-133 arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to prepare for Discovery's historic final flight. The mission, which launched on February 24, 2011, served as the concluding chapter for the oldest of NASA's three remaining shuttles. To transport the Express Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC4) and the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) to the International Space Station, a high-pressure schedule was undertaken by the team comprising Mission Specialists Nicole Stott, Michael Barratt, Tim Kopra, Alvin Drew, Pilot Eric Boe, and Commander Steve Lindsey.

The technical scope of the 13-day mission was significant. Beyond hauling critical spare components and a storage room, the crew delivered Robonaut 2 (R2), the first human-like robot to become a permanent resident of the orbiting laboratory. To complete these tasks, the astronauts performed two spacewalks, outfitting the new module and setting up the station for continued research. The shuttle carried a launch weight of 262,309 pounds and traveled approximately 5.3 million miles during its journey.

This mission marked a pivot point in American space policy. While Discovery was retiring, the NASA authorization act signed by President Obama was shifting the agency's focus away from moon-oriented goals toward a new plan to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025. As Discovery landed at Kennedy Space Center on March 9, 2011, it signaled the end of the 30-year shuttle program, leaving a legacy that NASA officials described as the foundation for the future of exploration.

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