Spaceflight Now Home





The Mission




Orbiter: Discovery
Mission: STS-133
Payload: Leonardo
Launch: Feb. 24, 2011
Time: 4:53 p.m. EST
Site: Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center
Landing: March 9 @
11:57 a.m. EST
Site: KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility

Mission Status Center

NASA TV (rev. L)

Master Flight Plan

Countdown timeline

Ascent events chart

Launch windows chart

SRB case history

STS-133 Video Coverage

High Definition Video

STS-133 Mission Index

Our Shuttle Archive




The Crew




Cdr Steve Lindsey

Pilot Eric Boe

MS 1 Al Drew

MS 2 Steve Bowen

MS 3 Mike Barratt

MS 4 Nicole Stott






Top Stories



Delta 2 rocket launch - A Delta 2 rocket lifts off with an international oceanography satellite.

ESA's lifting body - Europe's re-entry demonstrator should be approved soon for blastoff in late 2013.

Crew arrives at ISS - Next space station crew docks to orbiting complex in Soyuz capsule.

Voyager finds bubbles - The Voyager spacecraft has discovered signs of giant magnetic bubbles at the solar system's outer edge.

Rosetta goes to sleep - ESA's Rosetta comet-chasing spacecraft goes into hibernation.

Shuttle photo op - Spectacular photos of shuttle Endeavour docked to the space station.

Sea Launch update - Two missions are planned this year by Sea Launch from the Pacific Ocean and Kazakhstan.

Fresh crew launched - Reinforcements for the space station crew blast off on a Soyuz rocket.

Picking a destination - NASA will decide this summer where its next Mars rover will land.

Spirit's last images - A collection of the final photos returned from NASA's Spirit rover on Mars.

Atlantis on deck - Beautiful photos of shuttle Atlantis at sunrise on the launch pad.

Endeavour home - Concluding a 16-day mission, Endeavour returns to Earth for the final time.





NewsAlert



Sign up for our NewsAlert service and have the latest news in astronomy and space e-mailed direct to your desktop.

Enter your e-mail address:

Privacy note: your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose.


Discovery returns to the assembly building
BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW

Posted: December 22, 2010


Bookmark and Share

Space shuttle Discovery takes an overnight road trip from launch pad 39A to the Vehicle Assembly Building aboard the Apollo-era crawler-transporter at Kennedy Space Center. Discovery is being returned to the VAB so its external fuel tank can undergo thorough inspections not possible at the pad.

Spaceflight Now photos by Justin Ray











Photo credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now
 


INDEX | PLUS | NEWS ARCHIVE | LAUNCH SCHEDULE
ASTRONOMY NOW | STORE

ADVERTISE

© 2012 Spaceflight Now Inc.