The space shuttle Discovery has returned to Earth from its final mission, never to soar in orbit again.

In the end, Discovery – NASA’s oldest and most traveled shuttle – flew its last mission the same way it flew its first: with grace and pride, and with keen eyes around the world watching it every step of the way.

The shuttle landed for the final time here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:57 a.m. EST, capping a busy 13-day mission to the International Space Station. After 27 years and 39 flights, Discovery’s wheels rolled to a stop for the very last time under the warm sun at the Florida spaceport’s Shuttle Landing Facility.

Discovery was “a perfect vehicle from start to finish on her final flight,” shuttle commander Steven Lindsey radioed Mission Control after landing in some stiff winds.

“Great job by you and your crew. That was a great landing in tough conditions and it was an awesome docked mission that you all had,” Mission Control told the crew, adding that the mission’s 13 days boosted Discovery to a full year of cumulative time in space. “I think that you’d call that a fleet leader and a leader of any manned vehicle for time in orbit. So, job well done.”

As the shuttle’s six-astronaut crew rightly predicted, the air at the landing site was tinged with a mixture of celebration and sadness.

“It really is an honor and a privilege to be able to fly Discovery at any time, and the fact that we’re on this final flight really stands out to us,” mission specialist Nicole Stott said during an in-flight interview. “It’s a real opportunity to celebrate the really great things that have gone on with Discovery. I think when we walk away from her on the runway, there’s going to be tears in my eyes. I worked with her at KSC and the chance to fly her has just been a real, real privilege.”

The next mission for Discovery will never leave Earth. NASA plans to begin preparing the shuttle for public display in a museum, likely the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.

Discovery is the first of NASA’s space shuttles to be retired, but all three will eventually end up on display in a museum somewhere in the country. An intense competition among 29 different institutions has been under way for the limited number of shuttles. NASA will announce the final destinations for Discovery and its two sister ships on April 12 – the 30th anniversary for the shuttle program.

NASA is bringing its 30-year space shuttle program to an end later this year to focus on exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.

Discovery will begin a months-long decontamination process to ensure that it is safe for public display in a museum

NASA has two more shuttle missions planned — Endeavour’s STS-134 flight in April, and Atlantis’ final STS-135 flight in June.

The shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to roll out to the seaside Launch Pad 39A tomorrow night beginning at 8 p.m. EST (0100 March 11).

(Source: Space.com)