Last Of 39 Flights For The Shuttle Which First Launched In 1984

ANN Realtime Update 03.09.2011 1230 EST: Space shuttle Discovery has landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Image Credit NASA TV

Discovery landed for the final time at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after 202 orbits around Earth and a journey of 5,304,140 miles on STS-133. Discovery’s main gear touched down at 1157 EST. At wheels stop, the mission elapsed time was 12 days, 19 hours, four minutes and 50 seconds.

STS-133 was the 39th and final flight for Discovery, which spent 365 days in space, orbited Earth 5,830 times and traveled 148,221,675 miles.

Original Story: Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to return to Earth for the final time on Wednesday, completing a 13-day mission to outfit the International Space Station. If Discovery lands Wednesday, it will have spent a total of 365 days in space and traveled more than 148 million miles during 39 flights. It launched on its first mission on Aug. 30, 1984.

Wednesday landing opportunities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are at 1157 and 1334 EST. NASA managers will evaluate weather conditions at Kennedy before permitting Discovery to land. If Discovery is unable to land Wednesday, additional opportunities are available on Thursday at Kennedy and at backup landing site Edwards Air Force Base in California.

After touchdown, the astronauts will undergo routine physical examinations and meet with their families. The crew may participate in a post-landing news conference about 6.5 hours after landing.

FMI: www.nasa.gov