Categories: MissionsSpace ExplorationSpace FlightSpace ShuttleSpace Station

Best Images from STS-133: Discovery’s Final Mission in Pictures

Discovery leaving the ISS on March 7, 2011 for the final time. Credit: NASA

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As space shuttle Discovery prepares to return home from its final mission to space, let’s take a look back at the STS-133 mission, an historic “last” for the program’s most-traveled shuttle. “I think the legacy that this shuttle has made for herself is just nothing short than cause for celebration,” said mission specialist Michael Barratt during press conference from orbit on March 8.

“It’s going to be sad when it’s over, when we land tomorrow or the next day,” said STS-133 commander Steve Lindsey. “The hardest part of this for me is giving up the capability. It can do everything except leave low-Earth orbit…There is not a single thing wrong with her. Every single system and every piece of every system is working just like it’s brand new.”

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After a successful launch, the Remote Manipulator System/Orbiter Boom Sensor System (RMS/OBSS) equipped with special cameras, begins to conduct thorough inspections of the shuttle's thermal tile system on flight day 2. Photo credit: NASA

This view of the nose, the forward underside and crew cabin of the space shuttle Discovery was provided by an Expedition 26 crew member during a survey of the approaching STS-133 vehicle prior to docking with the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

ISS tally ho! A view the space station as Discovery approaches for docking. Compare this image with one below, taken as Discovery departs to see the addition of the PMM. Credit: NASA

Backdropped by a blue and white part of Earth, space shuttle Discovery is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 26 crew member as the shuttle approaches the International Space Station during STS-133 rendezvous and docking operations. Docking occurred at 2:14 p.m. (EST) on Feb. 26, 2011. A Russian Progress spacecraft docked to the space station is also featured in the image. Credit: NASA

A view of the docked space shuttle Discovery during the STS-133 mission, along with and the Canadian-built robot Dextre, and other parts of the ISS. Credit: NASA

European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli (left), Expedition 26 flight engineer; and NASA astronaut Steve Bowen, STS-133 mission specialist, are pictured in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station as they prepare for the start of the mission's first spacewalk. Credit: NASA

Astronauts Steve Bowen and Alvin drew work in tandem on one of the truss sections of the ISS during the first spacewalk of the STS-133 mission. Credit: NAS

Astronaut Alvin Drew during the first spacewalk of the STS-133 mission. Credit: NASA

The first spacewalk of the mission lasted six-hours and 34-minutes. Alvin Drew and Steve Bowen installed a power extension cable, move a failed ammonia pump module to the External Stowage Platform 2 on the Quest Airlock for return to Earth at a later date, installed a camera wedge on the right hand truss segment, installed extensions to the mobile transporter rail and exposed the Japanese “Message in a Bottle” experiment to space.

Cady Coleman, Expedition 26 flight engineer, is pictured near a Japanese-designed metal cylinder floating freely in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station while space shuttle Discovery remains docked with the station. On Feb. 28, spacewalkers Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew opened and 'filled' the cylinder, named "Message in a Bottle", with space, or rather the vacuum of outer space, and then sealed it to be brought back to Earth with the Discovery crew. Credit: NAS

The newly-attached Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) and a docked Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Credit: NASA

NASA astronauts Scott Kelly (foreground), Expedition 26 commander; and Steve Lindsey, STS-133 commander, are pictured in the newly-installed Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Backdropped by Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, this view shows the Cupola of the International Space Station and a docked Russian Progress spacecraft, taken during the STS-133 mission. Credit: NASA

Nicole Stott, STS-133 mission specialist, is pictured in the Cupola of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Alvin Drew, STS-133 mission specialist, is pictured in his sleeping bag, which is attached in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The crews from STS-133 and the ISS Expedition 26 in the newly installed Permanent Multipurpose Module. Credit: NASA

Joint crew photo inside the newest module, the PMM — which is basically a big storage closet for the ISS. The STS-133 crew members, all attired in red shirts(from left)are NASA astronauts Alvin Drew, Eric Boe (below), Nicole Stott, Michael Barratt, Steve Bowen and Steve Lindsey (below). The dark blue-attired Expedition 26 crew members, from bottom left, are NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli, NASA astronaut Cady Coleman along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka. In the center of the photo are Dmitry Kondratyev and Alexander Y. Kaleri.

Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, Expedition 26 flight engineer, moves stowage containers in the Unity node of the International Space Station. Credit: NAS

Alvin Drew works outside during the second EVA of the STS-133 mission. Credit: NASA

Anchored to a Canadarm2 mobile foot restraint, NASA astronaut Steve Bowen works outside the ISS during the second EVA of the STS-133 mission. Credit: NASA

The space shuttle Discovery as seen from the International Space Station, flying over southwestern coast of Morocco in the northern Atlantic. During a post undocking fly-around, the crew members aboard the two spacecraft collected a series of photos of each other's vehicle. Credit: NASA

Backdropped against the blackness of spaec and clouds over Earth, the International Space Station is seen from Discovery as the shuttle departed from the station. Credit: NAS

Disovery departing the ISS for the final time. Credit: NASA

Larger versions of all these images can be found at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website, under the STS-133 gallery.

Click here to see our gallery of launch images for Discovery’s final flight.

Here’s a video recap of the STS-133 mission:

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/