Shuttle Discovery begins its final mission
Space shuttle Discovery lifted off shortly before 5 p.m. ET Thursday.
February 24th, 2011
04:56 PM ET

Shuttle Discovery begins its final mission

Space shuttle Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, late Thursday afternoon, beginning what is expected to be its final mission.

NASA had halted its countdown at five minutes due to a computer problem related to safety on the "eastern range." But after a confirmation that all was good to go, the countdown resumed and the shuttle lifted off about three minutes behind its planned 4:50 p.m. ET launch.

The six-member crew will deliver a storage module, a science rig and spare parts to the international space station during its 11-day mission.

The liftoff comes after months of delays due to leaks and cracks in the external tank.

The last scheduled launch of space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for April 19, and shuttle Atlantis is tentatively scheduled to launch during the summer.

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Filed under: Florida • Shuttle • Space
soundoff (27 Responses)
  1. ed bailey

    I can't imagine the thoughts of the crew on this cash for clunkers trip. The dudes in the Sr-71 kicked ass when they delivered that clunker to the Smithsonian. As much as I hate the crooked politicians, some of our military boy are the real thing!

    February 24, 2011 at 11:35 pm | Report abuse |
  2. RUFFNUT

    I'm throbbing out of my banana hammock due to that exceptional reacharound.

    February 25, 2011 at 12:26 am | Report abuse |
  3. Pushing my Yugo

    I'm hungry for Chinese.

    February 25, 2011 at 1:41 am | Report abuse |
  4. ?

    Wow banasy and Mmmm are the same person ? Interesting is'nt it !!

    February 25, 2011 at 4:37 am | Report abuse |
  5. 2012 DoomsDay

    trolls be gone! Where's my H. Potter wand and my Latin dictionary... geeezzz!

    February 25, 2011 at 3:03 pm | Report abuse |
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