Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery Successful

NASA successfully launched the space shuttle Discovery Thursday for its 39th and final voyage. Discovery, carrying six crew members, took off from Cape Canaveral at 4:59 p.m. The shuttle will spend 11 days in orbit and deliver supplies, including a “humanoid” a robot, to the International Space Station before returning to Earth.

Launch director Mike Leinbach said Discovery has been an “amazing machine” and it will be “tough” to see the shuttle land for the last time. "What will be most difficult will be on landing day when we know that that's the end of her mission completely," he said.

Discovery was originally scheduled to launch in November, but a hydrogen gas leak forced NASA to delay the trip.

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