Question 1

True or false: Discovery was the only shuttle to ever fly both the first and last missions of the Space Shuttle program.

Accepted Answer

False. The first shuttle flight was Columbia (STS-1) in 1981, and the last was Atlantis (STS-135) in 2011. Discovery never flew the first or last program mission.

Question 2

True or false: Discovery was named after a ship used by Henry Hudson to explore the Northwest Passage.

Accepted Answer

False. Discovery was named after two famous ships: one used by Henry Hudson, and another by Captain James Cook. The name honors a tradition of exploration, but Hudson's ship was Discovery.

Question 3

True or false: The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from Discovery's cargo bay during a 1990 mission.

Accepted Answer

True. Discovery launched Hubble on STS-31 in April 1990. It also flew the first Hubble servicing mission (STS-82) and the final one (STS-125), though Atlantis did the last crewed visit.

Question 4

True or false: Discovery flew more missions than any other space shuttle in NASA's fleet.

Accepted Answer

True. Discovery completed 39 missions, the most of any shuttle. Atlantis flew 33, and Endeavour 25. Its first flight was in 1984, and it retired in 2011.

Question 5

True or false: Discovery's thermal protection system tiles were replaced after every single flight to ensure safety.

Accepted Answer

False. Tiles were inspected and replaced as needed, but not all were swapped after every flight. Many tiles flew multiple missions, and only damaged or worn ones were replaced.

Question 6

True or false: Discovery was the first shuttle to carry a female commander into space.

Accepted Answer

False. The first female shuttle commander was Eileen Collins, but she flew on Columbia (STS-93) in 1999, not Discovery. Collins later commanded Discovery on the Return to Flight mission STS-114 in 2005.

Question 7

True or false: A piece of foam from Discovery's external tank struck its wing during liftoff but caused no serious damage.

Accepted Answer

True. During STS-114 in 2005, the first Return to Flight mission after Columbia, a large foam chunk broke off Discovery's tank. It missed the wing, but the incident grounded the fleet again for repairs.

Question 8

True or false: On its final mission, Discovery delivered the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module to the ISS.

Accepted Answer

True. Discovery's last flight was STS-133 in February 2011. It carried the Leonardo module, which became a permanent storage room for the International Space Station.

Space Shuttle Discovery Trivia Questions