With calm and sunny Florida skies and all systems go, space shuttle Discovery took off Thursday, Feb. 24, on an 11-day mission and landed Friday, March 11.

This was its 39th and final flight. It's first was back on Aug. 30, 1984. It arrived at the International Space Station two days later.

With its return, NASA will retire the Discovery to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum to replace the Enterprise currently on display there. The Enterprise will then join the Atlantis and Endeavour in the hotly-contested bid by Tukwila's Museum of Flight and 20-something other museums to land a shuttle at their facility, that is, after the April 19 Endeavour's last launch, and possibly an Atlantis flight in June.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has reported that a decision will be announced by April 12.
NASA astronaut, Dr. Bonnie Dunbar stepped down as CEO last June at the Tukwila museum and became executive director of "Wings Over Washington."

"Our number one priority of this umbrella project is trying to get a shuttle here," Dunbar told Robinson Newspapers the day after the Discovery launch. "The number two priority is working to raise funds with Aviation High School (on the museum campus) promoting 'STEM', science, technology, engineering and math. It's an outstanding school, has had three graduating classes, and ought to be the model school.

"There are a lot of great institutions around here," she added. "You never can tell. If you look at the criteria (for landing a shuttle at your museum), such things as being in a populated area, having an excellent educational program, being a credited museum, there are only a handful credited by the American Association of Museums. We're among many art and natural history museums. In 2007 we were selected as a Smithsonian affiliate. That doesn't mean we get money. It means they reviewed us, our collection policies and procedures. We rank right up there. We are the largest private 501 c 3 air and space museum in the country.

"We are on a long runway. The shuttle cannot be disassembled. It has to come in on a 747 when it is transported. We made a very good case and have a good chance at it.

Added Dunbar, "This is definitely the end of an era and I have a very personal perspective on this because I was an engineer working for Rockwell that built Columbia, the very first space shuttle. I worked at Boeing for a period of time, went back to graduate school at UW, then went to work on the Columbia at Edwards Air Force Base.

"I got to fly it twice. The space shuttle is an amazing vehicle and nobody in the world is able to replicate it primarily because it launches so much cargo and crew to orbit and brings it all back. It's really enabled the research missions.

"Until the United States builds another vehicle, whether it's commercial for a while then (NASA) exploration vehicles has not been fully sorted out," she said. "Until that happens we will be riding to the International Space Station on the Russian Soyuz out of Kazakhstan. I actually trained in Russia in '94. I was a back-up to the first American on the Russian Space Station Mir. My last two flights in '95 (on the Atlantis) and '98 (on the Endeavour) were docking missions to the Mir, so I've worked with the Russians and lived over there for a year.

"I am hoping this nation continues to be a leader and participant in human space exploration," she said. "That's going to be up to the national leadership, President, and congress and American people right now."

West Seattle High School graduate and NASA astronaut, Captain Gregory C. Johnson was at Mission Control at Houston to help facilitate the Discovery's launch. Robinson Newspapers spoke to him just after the shuttle was safely in orbit. Johnson flew the Atlantis May 11-24, 2009, for the fifth and final Hubble servicing mission.

"I was a representative for the crew office in Mission Control, in Houston, sitting behind the launch control team, representing our bosses down at the Cape," said Johnson, who visits his dad whenever he can in Mukilteo. "It was great to see the launch, and the build-up of getting our crews in the vehicle and finally getting them into space. It was really gratifying to see Discovery on orbit. There was actually a problem with the range control center last-minute down to the wire, but they were able to give it a go and launch.

The weather was beautiful.

"We got 'em in orbit," enthused the experience aviator, somewhat awestruck.

"I already sent them a couple of emails," Johnson said. "They replied already. Usually they'll give you a one-line response. It's actually kind of hard to type in orbit. You kind of anchor yourself. It's fun. They're all veterans and we all know each other. This 39th flight for Discovery took a tremendous effort at the Cape to get the vehicle ready to go. Those people, it's a bittersweet ending for them, too, because some of them won't have jobs again. It's great to get (the shuttle) into orbit but you have to remind yourself you've got 12 or 13 days of hard work for those guys to pull off their mission.

Johnson's regular gig is deputy of Aircraft Operations Division of Ellington Field, near Houston and Mission Control, and he is in charge of 32 airplanes including the wide and wild, giant "Super Guppy."

So is the scene during take-off at Mission Control like in the movies where everybody is sweating and applauding?

"Well, we do have really big screens that show the trajectory of the vehicle and all the cameras at the Cape showing the launch," he said. "But it's more business-like, kind of 'game on'. People aren't clapping.
They're looking at screens and data, and the tanks' controlled release at about eight and a half minutes (after take-off), then another 35-37 minutes later a burn (another release) to controlled orbit, so until 45 minutes after launch you're still 'game on' trying to get them into stabilized orbit."

Dr. Dunbar suggests you visit: www.museumofflight.org to help "Bring Home the Shuttle."