Above: Front of the Specimen Card

With a career that spanned nearly three decades from 1984 to 2011, the Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) accrued more space flights than any other craft in the program. Discovery orbited the Earth 5,830 times, traveling approximately 150 million miles.

This specimen is a fragment from a mission-flown payload liner of the Discovery. Made of fire-resistant beta cloth, this material covered insulation and kept the payload area clean and pristine.

NASA disposition paperwork received with this item indicates this particular piece of the payload liner was removed after Discovery’s mission to deploy numerous science instruments (STS-85), which flew on August 7, 1997.

As pictured below, each hand-cut specimen is housed in an acrylic jar and ships in a classic, glass-topped riker display case. Specimens measure roughly 1x1cm in size though variations may occur. As pictured, some specimens will have black seams while others will be completely white. A small information card is also included, which serves as the certificate of authenticity.

More about Space Shuttle Program and Discovery (OV-103)

After the close of the Apollo program, NASA turned its focus from lunar landings to research and observation. The vessel for this new focus would be the Space Shuttle, a multi-use vehicle designed to carry astronauts and scientific equipment to and from Earth's orbit. Due to their reusable design, the orbiters were amazing tools for furthering our scientific understanding of the stars. 

NASA's Space Shuttle program delivered 133 successful missions during its three decades in operation, beginning with Columbia's inaugural mission in 1981 and concluding with Atlantis' in 2011. Missions involved many vital tasks, such as maintaining the International Space Station, repairing the Hubble Space Telescope, and deploying satellites. Scientific experiments featured heavily in the rotation, using the reusable Spacelab developed by the ESA. 

As noted above, Discovery had a long career spanning nearly three decades from 1984 to 2011. During this time, the orbiter accrued more space flights than any other craft in the program. Discovery orbited the Earth 5,830 times, traveling approximately 150 million miles. The shuttle weighed about 170 thousand pounds, boasting a wingspan of about 80 feet and a length of about 120 feet.

Among its many missions, the Discovery carried the Hubble Telescope into orbit (STS-31) and took on the hundredth shuttle mission (STS-92). 

Today, the Discovery can be found at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Fairfax County, Virginia. Coincidentally, this is very close to Mini Museum HQ so the Discovery holds a special place in our hearts!

Further Reading

Mullane, Mike. Riding rockets: the outrageous tales of a space shuttle astronaut. Simon and Schuster, 2007.

Lamoreux, James C., James D. Siekierski, and JP Nick Carter. "Space Shuttle thermal protection system inspection by 3D imaging laser radar." Laser Radar Technology and Applications IX. Vol. 5412. SPIE, 2004.

PITTS, W., and D. KOURTIDES. "Ceramic insulation/multifoil composite for thermal protection of reentry spacecraft." 24th Thermophysics Conference. 1989.

Linton, Roger C., Ann F. Whitaker, and Miria M. Finckenor. "Space environment durability of beta cloth in LDEF thermal blankets." LDEF Materials Results for Spacecraft Applications (1993).

Harris, Richard, Michael Stewart, and William Koenig. "Thermal Protection Systems Technology Transfer from Apollo and Space Shuttle to the Orion Program." 2018 AIAA SPACE and Astronautics Forum and Exposition. 2018.

Jenkins, Dennis R. Space shuttle: the history of the National Space Transportation System: the first 100 missions. DR Jenkins, 2001.

Jenkins, Dennis R. Space Shuttle: Developing an Icon: 1972-2013. Specialty Press, 2016.

Above: Back of the Specimen Card