A look at the first day of the final flight of space shuttle Discovery. Discovery lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 4:50 p.m. EST Thursday to deliver a new module and critical supplies to the International Space Station.
The STS-133 mission is delivering the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM), a facility created from the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module named Leonardo. The module can support microgravity experiments in areas such as fluid physics, materials science, biology and biotechnology. Inside the PMM is Robonaut 2, a dextrous robot that will become a permanent resident of the station. Discovery also is carrying critical spare components to the space station and the Express Logistics Carrier 4, an external platform that holds large equipment.
