Article Posted on : - Feb 25, 2011

Image above: Space shuttle Discovery lifts off. Photo by NASA TV

CAPE CANAVERAL, US (AFP): The shuttle Discovery Friday blasted off on its final odyssey into orbit, marking the beginning of the end for what has been a central mission of the US space program for three decades.

NASA's most journeyed shuttle launched at 4:53 pm (local time) on an 11-day trip to the International Space Station (ISS), and when it returns next month it will be the first of the three-member fleet to enter retirement.

The shuttle will bring a spare closet module and the first humanoid robot to the ISS. The mission will also include two spacewalks.

The end of the shuttle program will create a gaping hole in the US space program during a period of belt-tightening and budget freezes, and will leave Russia's space capsules as the sole transit option to the ISS.

"Bittersweet" was the word of the day at Kennedy Space Center as astronauts, engineers and space fans crowded in to get a glimpse of history by watching Discovery's crowning launch 27 years after it first flew into space.

"There is no doubt the space shuttle is an engineering marvel. People have dedicated their lives for decades to build and operate the space shuttle -- these are some of the greatest engineers and scientists that our nation has," said NASA chief technologist Bob Braun.

"But it is an older vehicle, it is 30 years old, it was designed probably a decade before that," he said.

"I think we all recognize we need to go to the next chapter. But any time you go to that next chapter, it is bittersweet."

When Discovery wraps up this tour, the oldest surviving shuttle will have flown more missions than any of its cohorts and toted 180 people into space, including the first female shuttle commander and the first African-American spacewalker.

The other two shuttles are scheduled for their final flights later this year: Endeavour on April 19 and Atlantis on June 28, though funding for Atlantis remains in question.

Discovery has circled the Earth more than 5,600 times and logged 230 million kilometers over its 352 days in space.