STS-31 was the thirty-fifth mission of the space shuttle program. Discovery's tenth mission deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.
Space Shuttle Discovery (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, gathering more spaceflights than any other spacecraft to date. Discovery became the third operational orbiter to enter service, preceded by Columbia and Challenger. It embarked on its last mission, STS-133, on February 24, 2011 and touched down for the final time at Kennedy Space Center on March 9, having spent a cumulative total of almost a full year in space. Discovery performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions. It also carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. Discovery was the first operational shuttle to be retired, followed by Endeavour and then Atlantis.
Space Shuttle Details 
                                                            
                                                        
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                                                                    Birth: Sept. 23, 1944
                                                                
                                                                    Age:  81
                                                                
                                                            
 
                                                            
                                                        
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                                                                    Birth: Aug. 19, 1946
                                                                
                                                                    Age:  79
                                                                
                                                            
 
                                                            
                                                        
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                                                                    Birth: June 8, 1937
                                                                
                                                                    Date of Death:
                                                                    Dec. 21, 2017
                                                                
                                                            
 
                                                            
                                                        
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                                                                    Birth: Oct. 3, 1951
                                                                
                                                                    Age:  74
                                                                
                                                            
 
                                                            
                                                        
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                                                                    Birth: Dec. 12, 1951
                                                                
                                                                    Age:  73
                                                                
                                                            
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
INFO WIKIThis NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image released on Sept. 12, 2025, features a cloudy starscape from an impressive star cluster. This scene is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy situated about 160,000 light-years away in the …
With help from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in low-Earth orbit, scientists recently observed a Pluto-like… The post Hubble observes dead star devouring Pluto-like object appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a galaxy that’s hard to categorize. The galaxy in question is NGC 2775, which lies 67 million light-years away in the constellation Cancer (the Crab). NGC 2775 sports a smooth, featureles…
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals new details in Messier 82 (M82), home to brilliant stars whose light is shaded by sculptural clouds made of clumps and streaks of dust and gas. This image features the star-powered heart o…
In our nearby stellar neighborhood, a burned-out star is snacking on a fragment of a Pluto-like object. With its unique ultraviolet capability, only NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope could identify that this meal is taking place. The stellar r…
A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Tenth crewed flight to the Chinese space station.
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Gaofen is a series of civilian Earth observation satellites developed and launched for the China High-definition Earth Observation System (CHEOS), a …
First flight of the upgraded Japanese HTV-X spacecraft designed to resupply the International Space Station.
A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Second of two new-generation satellites built by Airbus to provide secure communications to the Spanish government, its allies, and various internati…
Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.