At 9:09 a.m. Eastern Time this morning, the space shuttle successfully touched down in Florida, bringing the spectacular shuttle landing path to an end. NASA officially announced the completion of the space shuttle landing today after the shuttle landing path took Discovery and the crew over much of the United States – from state parks in Montana to a pay day loan store in Georgia. After two scrubbed landings yesterday, this space shuttle landing was not assured to be a go – in fact, for a when, it was under question.
Space shuttle landing today nearly scrubbed again
The Florida space center NASA crew was trying for the third time today to land the space shuttle. Bad weather and thick clouds canceled two different tries yesterday. Rainstorms and thick clouds caused the space shuttle landing today to be delayed by one full Earth orbit. After the Discovery space shuttle made 238 complete orbits of the planet, the shuttle touched down in Southern Florida.
The shuttle landing path across the USA
Very unusually for NASA, the space shuttle landing path took Discovery across the United States. When the Columbia disaster in 2003 scattered debris across Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, and California, NASA began scheduling shuttle landing paths to stay clear of overland paths. The landing path of the Discovery shuttle allowed the crew a cash advanceworth of additional time in space and extra sleep before the space shuttle landing today, which took extreme focus. The Discovery space shuttle landing today gave an opportunity for many United States citizens to see and hear the space shuttle landing, thanks to the unusual shuttle landing path.
3 remaining NASA space shuttle missions
On Might 14, the next-to-next-to-last space shuttle launch. When Atlantis launches, it could be the first of the remaining three flights of the current NASA space program. On September 16, Discovery will make the final flight of its space career. After the current space shuttle fleet is retired, NASA has been instructed to “refocus” on longer-range and longer-term missions to space.
See coverage of the space shuttle landing today
