NASA Successfully Completes Final Launch of Discovery

NASA had been preparing to send the Discovery shuttle on its final voyage and it seems that the launch was completed successfully, albeit not without a small, last-minute technical mishap of sorts.

Those that like to keep track of man's various efforts to better understand and cope with what lies beyond our planet will know of NASA's Discovery shuttle program.

The Discovery is a very old orbiter that was sent on its final voyage into outer space on Thursday afternoon, February 24.

This marks its 39th space flight, as it was sent on an important mission to the International Space Station.

Coincidentally, the same day was when an Automated Transfer Vehicle, which carried only cargo and no people, docked to the station.

Said spacecraft had been launched last week on an Ariane V, from South America, and docked around the same time as the Discovery's fuel tank was filled up.

"This is a pretty tremendous day in spaceflight for us," said Bll Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for Space Operations. "For us to be sitting here today with both of these events occurring as they did is pretty amazing."

Nevertheless, it appears that the launch of the veteran shuttle didn't lack its share of complications, in this case a last-minute technical glitch with the Air Force's Eastern Range.

Basically, because of draining requirements with the external fuel tank, the launch window left was of four seconds, plus a practical limit of two seconds.

"This was one for the record books," Leinbach said. "It may have seemed a little rushed to people on the outside. It's a testament to the team that we have practiced for this."

"It was one more second than Mike Leinbach (shuttle launch director) needed to get the job done, so there was plenty of margin," said Mike Moses, chairman of the Mission Management Team. Still, he joked, "I could use a little less heart palpitations in the final seconds of the countdown."