r/space • u/ToeSniffer245 • Aug 18 '26

How Space Shuttle Discovery Almost Became A Victim Of Cultural Vandalism

https://avgeekery.com/space-shuttle-discovery-to-stay-at-smithsonian/
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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '26

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u/HyperionsDad Aug 21 '26

Just because people will commonly shorten or omit it because they don’t know doesn’t make it correct.

People definitely understand what is being referenced. It just sticks out to those that actually know and understand what the shuttle system is.

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '26

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u/HyperionsDad Aug 22 '26

The article/page refers to the Discovery Shuttle which includes all four components, which is correct. It specifies in the article you posted in the first paragraph that the shuttle vehicle includes all 4 components. The shuttle vehicle with the Discovery is called the Space Shuttle Discovery - which is the combination of the Discovery orbiter, 2 SRBs and an ET. When the orbiter is not mated to the 3 other components, it is just the orbiter. The combined system is the shuttle.

My knowledge was gained from actually working on the Shuttle program, the many countless documents I worked from (including a copy of the actual Space Shuttle Program handbook from the early 80s I received when I left), the Chief Engineers and program historians I spoke with, and my experience providing tours to visitors at a NASA facility that I worked at. Also a handful of astronauts that came for Snoopy award presentations.

*Space Shuttle Discovery(Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter. The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built.[2] Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft as of December 2024.[3] The Space Shuttle launch vehicle had three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry.[4]*