As billows of smoke and steam roll away, space shuttle Discovery leaps from Launch Pad 39B on the historic return to flight mission STS-114. This was the 114th space shuttle flight and the 31st for Discovery.
As billows of smoke and steam roll away, space shuttle Discovery leaps from Launch Pad 39B on the historic return to flight mission STS-114. This was the 114th space shuttle flight and the 31st for Discovery. On this mission to the International Space Station, the crew performed inspections on-orbit for the first time of all of the reinforced carbon-carbon panels on the leading edge of the wings and the thermal protection system tiles using the Canadian-built orbiter boom sensor system and the data from 176 impact and temperature sensors.
Image Credit: NASA