Space Shuttle Discovery’s Final Voyage
The International Space Station got a sorely needed storage room Tuesday, a 21-foot-long supply closet packed with goods and a humanoid robot that will remain boxed up for another two months. It became the 13th room at the sprawling outpost, and the only one devoted entirely to storage. Built in Italy, the new compartment is named Leonardo, after Leonardo da Vinci. The compartment was delivered to the station by space shuttle Discovery. This is Discovery’s final voyage, and only two other shuttle trips remain. The fleet will be retired by summer’s end.Once back home, Discovery will be retired and sent to the Smithsonian Institution. It’s NASA’s longest flying shuttle, circling the planet for nearly a year during the course of 39 missions over 26 years (25 images total). —via sacbee.com’s The Frame photo blog
