Editing Space Shuttle Discovery (section)

==History==
The name ''Discovery'' was chosen to carry on a tradition based on ships of exploration,<ref name="ov103"/> primarily {{HMS|Discovery|1774|6}},<ref>{{cite web|title=Discovery (OV-103)|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/discovery.html|website=science.ksc.nasa.gov|access-date=February 28, 2015|ref=Discovery, the third orbiter to become operational at Kennedy Space Center, was named after one of two ships that were used by the British explorer James Cook in the 1770s during voyages in the South Pacific that led to the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. Another of his ships was the Endeavour, the namesake of NASA's newest orbiter.|archive-date=February 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209023128/https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/discovery.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> one of the ships commanded by Captain [[James Cook]] during his third and final major voyage from 1776 to 1779, and [[Henry Hudson]]'s {{ship||Discovery|1602 ship|2}},<ref name="ov103"/> which was used in 1610–1611 to explore [[Hudson Bay]] and search for a [[Northwest Passage]]. Other ships bearing the name have included {{HMS|Discovery|1874|6}}<ref>{{cite web|title=How Did the Space Shuttle Discovery Get Its Name?|url=http://www.space.com/10908-space-shuttle-discovery-names-origin.html|website=Space.com|date=February 22, 2011|access-date=February 28, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402180910/http://www.space.com/10908-space-shuttle-discovery-names-origin.html|url-status=live}}</ref> of the 1875–1876 [[British Arctic Expedition]] to the North Pole, and {{ship|RRS|Discovery}}, which carried the 1901–1904 [[Discovery Expedition|''Discovery'' Expedition]] to [[Antarctica]], led by [[Robert Falcon Scott|Captain Scott]].<ref name=pao/>

Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' launched the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] and conducted the [[STS-82|second]] and [[STS-103|third]] Hubble service missions. It also launched the [[Ulysses probe|''Ulysses'' probe]] and three [[Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System|TDRS]] satellites. Twice ''Discovery'' was chosen as the "Return To Flight" Orbiter, first in 1988 after the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|loss of ''Challenger'']] in 1986, and then again for the twin "Return To Flight" missions in July 2005 and July 2006 after the [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|''Columbia'' disaster]] in 2003. [[Project Mercury]] astronaut [[John Glenn]], who was 77 at the time, flew with ''Discovery'' on [[STS-95]] in 1998, making him the oldest person to go into space at that time in history.<ref name=over/>

Had plans to launch [[United States Department of Defense]] payloads from [[Vandenberg Air Force Base]] gone ahead, ''Discovery'' would have become the dedicated [[US Air Force]] shuttle.<ref>{{cite web|title=Part II. Discovery (OV-103)|work=Space Transportation System Haer No. TX-116|url=http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/2.pdf|publisher=NASA.gov|access-date=February 28, 2015|archive-date=October 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022151008/https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/2.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Its first West Coast mission, [[STS-62-A]], was scheduled for 1986, but [[Canceled Space Shuttle missions|canceled]] in the aftermath of the ''[[Challenger disaster]]''.

On May 27, 1999, ''Discovery'' was launched on [[STS-96]], the first shuttle mission to dock with the [[International Space Station]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-96.html | title=STS-96 - NASA }}</ref>

''Discovery'' was retired after completing its final mission, [[STS-133]] on March 9, 2011. The spacecraft is now on display in Virginia at the [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center]], an annex of the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[National Air and Space Museum]].<ref name=nasm>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/pressroom/releaseDetail.cfm?releaseID=256|title=Space Shuttle Discovery Joins the National Collection|date=April 12, 2011|access-date=July 31, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121120846/http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/pressroom/releaseDetail.cfm?releaseID=256|archive-date=January 21, 2012}}</ref>