A Rare Peek Inside Space Shuttle Discovery

It has been on 39 missions, completed 5,830 orbits, flown 148 million miles and spent 395 days in Space - Now NASA's flagship Space Shuttle Discovery, is getting ready for its last journey to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington D.C.

However, before it can be shipped off to its final destination, the shuttle had to be cleaned up and stripped of all hazardous materials, as well as, unnecessary electronic and mechanical equipment. A team of NASA experts who have been working on this process since the Shuttle retired following its final mission on March 9th, recently provided a glimpse of what visitors can expect.

As you can see, despite being gutted the shuttle's impressive exterior and the parts of its interior that remain are still stunning to behold. Amongst the most interesting things is a walkway that will enable fans to view the cargo hold that once housed the Hubble telescope, as well as, the colorful green and pink pipes that transported the shuttle fuel.

Also fun, will be to touch the over 23,000 surprisingly light-weight tiles, that line the exterior and were responsible for protecting the Shuttle from scorching, when it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.

However, the most surprising item to most visitors will be Shuttle Discovery's tires - Not because of their impressive size, but because, unlike those of normal flight machines, these are smooth - That is, they have no grooves. Instead, the treads are etched on the runaway because it was found to be more effective in creating the friction required to bring the Shuttle to a halt when it landed on the runaway at speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour.

As the Shuttle Discovery gets ready to reach its final resting place, Space Shuttle Atlantis and its crew are getting ready for a final mission to the International Space Station. If all goes well, on July 8th, Atlantis will leave with 23,000 pounds of clothing, food and equipment - enough provide for the resident astronauts for at least a year - Until commercial aircraft developed by private companies are ready to take over the task hopefully, later in the year.

With the 30 year Space Shuttle program coming to an end, NASA Scientists will now focus on efforts to get to more exciting destinations like the moon and Mars.

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