Discovery Launch Schedule
You can find a Discovery launch schedule on the NASA website. This website has a list of all of the launches that NASA has planned for the year. You can go and see which launches involve the Discovery space shuttle, but the launches are subject to last minute cancellations due to unfavorable weather. If you are going to Cape Canaveral to watch a Discovery launch, then you will want to be sure to check out all of the activities that are available at the Kennedy Space Center. Expect to spend the whole day because there are an abundant number of activities.
Activities in Kennedy Space Center
You can take a two and a half hour tour of the Kennedy Space Center that will take you right by two launch pads, one of the "crawlers" that pulls the shuttle and rockets to the launch pad. You will also go by the Vehicle Assembly Building, the world's largest building and the three and a half mile crushed rock drive that the shuttles get hauled on while going to the launch pad. You can get off and tour the Apollo/Saturn V Center and see a real Saturn moon rocket that was made for a cancelled flight. Once you get done with the tour, the Visitor's Center awaits with two IMAX theaters, a huge gift shop, a replica of a NASA shuttle orbiter and much more. Kids will especially enjoy the $60 million addition of the "Shuttle Launch Experience."
Discovery History
The Discovery space shuttle is the most notable of the the space shuttles. It has flown both return to flight missions after the Challenger and Columbia disasters, and has flown 33 missions, totaling around 100 million miles. It also flew the 100th Space Shuttle Mission and on the mission that launched the Hubble Space Telescope. It has launched 31 satellites, orbited the Earth 4,229 times, and has the most miles of any space vehicle ever. It's reliability has made it a name that anyone in space will recognize as the pinnacle of space travel vehicles.
Activities in Kennedy Space Center
You can take a two and a half hour tour of the Kennedy Space Center that will take you right by two launch pads, one of the "crawlers" that pulls the shuttle and rockets to the launch pad. You will also go by the Vehicle Assembly Building, the world's largest building and the three and a half mile crushed rock drive that the shuttles get hauled on while going to the launch pad. You can get off and tour the Apollo/Saturn V Center and see a real Saturn moon rocket that was made for a cancelled flight. Once you get done with the tour, the Visitor's Center awaits with two IMAX theaters, a huge gift shop, a replica of a NASA shuttle orbiter and much more. Kids will especially enjoy the $60 million addition of the "Shuttle Launch Experience."
Discovery History
The Discovery space shuttle is the most notable of the the space shuttles. It has flown both return to flight missions after the Challenger and Columbia disasters, and has flown 33 missions, totaling around 100 million miles. It also flew the 100th Space Shuttle Mission and on the mission that launched the Hubble Space Telescope. It has launched 31 satellites, orbited the Earth 4,229 times, and has the most miles of any space vehicle ever. It's reliability has made it a name that anyone in space will recognize as the pinnacle of space travel vehicles.