On Wednesday, the Space Shuttle Discovery will lift off for the final time. Named for three separate British ships (Captain James Cook’s HMS
Discovery, Henry Hudson’s Discovery, and Captain George Nares’s HMS Discovery),
the shuttle will have seen 39 missions in 26 years.

In honor of the ship's retirement, we've pulled together
some of the Discovery's most exciting moments in its quarter-century of space
travel. 

August 30, 1984: The shuttle's maiden voyage is the twelfth shuttle mission, overall. The launch is originally scheduled for June 25, but is pushed back due to a number of technical concerns. The mission, lead by Henry Hartsfield, Jr. (his second spaceflight) lasts just over six days.

April 12, 1985: Utah Senator Jake Garn tags along on Discovery’s fourth flight, becoming the first sitting member of Congress in space.

June 17, 1985: STS-51-G payload specialist, Sultan Salman al-Saud, grandson of King Ibn Saud, becomes the first Saudi citizen, first Muslim, and first member of a royal family in space.

September 29, 1988: Deemed “Return to Space,” the seventh Discovery mission is the first U.S. spaceflight since 1986’s Challenger explosion. The flight is also the first to include an all-veteran crew since Apollo 11 in 1969.

April 24, 1990: The Discovery launches a 24,500 pound telescope called the Hubble, the largest and most advanced space telescope to date.

October 29, 1998: Discovery passenger Senator John Glenn becomes the oldest man in space, at age 77. Fellow passenger Pedro Duque, meanwhile, becomes the first Spaniard in space.

October 11, 2000: Discovery’s 28th flight is the 100th shuttle launch overall. The mission lasts 12 days and includes four space walks.

July 26, 2005: The Discovery marks another disaster. This time deemed “Return to Flight,” the shuttle is the first to lift off since the 2003 Columbia disaster.

August 28, 2009: The payload of STS-128 includes, among other things, a treadmill called C.O.L.B.E.R.T., named after television’s truthiest newscaster.

April 5, 2010: At 15 days, STS-131 becomes the longest mission for the Discovery to date. For the first time ever, four women are in space simultaneously. This is also the first time that two Japanese astronauts are in space at the same time.

November 3, 2010: The 39th flight is scheduled to be the Discovery’s last. The mission will last 11 days.