Facts about Discovery
- On Jan. 25, 1979, NASA revealed the names of the first four space-worthy shuttles: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis. Discovery was named after historical exploration vessels, such as Captain James Cook’s HMS Discovery and Henry Hudson’s Discovery.
- On Jan. 29, NASA contracted Rockwell International of Downey, California, to construct the vehicle.
- The Discovery shuttle construction began in June 1980 and finished in February 1983. It was ready for its maiden voyage on June 25, 1984, but was delayed due to technical issues.
- The first flight took place on August 30, 1984
- The crew of six.
- Mission duration: six days.
- The first objective of the Discovery flight was to deploy three commercial communication satellites, along with various scientific experiments, including a prototype solar array for the International Space Station’s main arrays.
- Total missions flown: 39
- The last flight was on February 24th, 2011, which lasted 12 days.
- The name of the last mission was STS-133.
SR-71
Facts about SR-71 tail# 17972
- A total of 32 SR-71s were built.
- Traveling at speeds exceeding three times the speed of sound generates temperatures of 316° C (600° F) on the external surfaces of aircraft. These temperatures are high enough to melt conventional aluminum airframes. As a result, the SR-71’s external skin is constructed from a titanium alloy. This serves to protect the internal aluminum airframe from the intense heat.
- Speed record from New York to London at 1,817Mph in 1 hour and 54 min. This aircraft made this voyage on September 1, 1974.
- Another record this aircraft made was on September 13th, 1974, when it took 3 hours and 47 minutes.
- The highest altitude reached by this aircraft was 25,929 meters or 85,068 feet.
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