Space Shuttle Discovery, Lift Off

Kennedy Space Center
Blast off of the Shuttle Discovery

This postcard is postmarked 2005. 

Space Shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center

The Road to Space
Kennedy Space Center

Space Shuttle Discovery heads down the road to Launch Pad 39B.
Photo by National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The sender writes:

I thought of you when I visited Kennedy Space Center.  We had the 'secret' back tour and I actually had an opportunity to see Discover 'up close (I touched it!)  Wonderful Experience

This postcard is postmarked in 2008.

Space Shuttle Discovery - Forward Flight Deck

Forward flight deck aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Official NASA Photograph

Space Shuttle Discovery Launching

The launch of space shuttle Discovery is reflected in the waters on Banana Creek just after sunrise, as it embarks on mission STS-96, a 10-day mission.  Discovery will travel to the Space Station where it will re-supply the station for future missions.

Photo Courtesy: NASA

Space Shuttle Discovery on the Launch Pad

After rollback of the Rotating Service Structure at Launch Pad 39B (left) before dawn, the Space Shuttle Discovery is revealed poised for flight on mission STS-103.  The rollback of the structure was complete at 4:46 a.m EST. STS-103 is scheduled for launch Dec. 16 at 9:18 p.m. EST.  The mission is expected to last about 9 days and 21 hours with a landing at KSC Sunday, Dec. 26, at 6:56 p.m. EST.
(The postcard doesn't say it but this was in 1999.)

Photo courtesy: NASA

Space Shuttle Discovery in the VAB

In the Vehicle Assembly Building, workers prepare the orbiter Discovery for vertical lift before mating it with the external tank.

PHoto courtesy: NASA

Kennedy Space Center - Launch Complex 39

Kennedy Space Center
Reflected in the  turn basin at Launch Complex 39 Area, the Space Shuttle Discovery stands atop the crawler-transporter which carries its cargo at 1 mph to Launch Pad 39B.  The vehicle takes about five hours to cover the 4.2 miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad.

Photo courtesy: NASA

Space Shuttle Discovery, Main Engines

In the Vehicle Assembly Building, the orbiter Discovery (viewed from behind the Space Shuttle Main Engines) is raised to a vertical position in order to me mated with the external tank.

Photo courtesy: NASA

Space Shuttle Discovery Lifts Off

Clouds of exhaust fill Launch Pad 39B as Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off at 2:19 p.m. EST Oct. 29 on mission STS-95.  Making his second voyage into space after 36 years is Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio
(the postcard doesn't give the year, but this happened in 1998)

Photo courtesy: NASA

Space Shuttle Discovery

Discovery will be moved from the launch pad back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center to allow repair workers to gain access to some areas of the tank that cannot be reached at the pad.  The hail storm caused several small indentations in the tank's foam insulation and managers are concerned that the areas could form ice when the tank is filled with super-cold propellants for launch.  Such areas of ice could cause debris damage to the Shuttle after liftoff.

Photo courtesy: NASSA

Space - Space Shuttle Discovery, September 29, 1988

Return to Space
Kennedy Space Center - Florida
September 29, 1988

The Space Shuttle Discovery and it's Five man crew is launched from pad 39-B at 11:37 a.m. as STS-26 embarks on a four day mission, marking "America's Return to Space."  The crew members of Discovery are: Commander Rick Hauck; Pilot Richard Covey; and Mission Specialists Dave Hilmers, Mike Lounge, and George "Pinky" Nelson.

Photo Credit - NASA