- Missions (9)
- Discovery (OV-103) Background Discovery, the third orbiter to become operational at Kennedy Space Center, was named after one of two ships that were used by the British explorer James Cook in the 1770s during voyages in the South Pacific that led to the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. Another of his ships was the Endeavour, the namesake of NASA's newest orbiter. Cook also used Discovery to ...science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/discovery.html