Launch of the Discovery shuttle on July 26, 2005
The launch of the space shuttle Discovery on July 26, 2005 14 years ago was a success, however, its history is linked to a tragedy that shocked the world, the death of the seven crew members of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003, just 30 months earlier. A failure in the structure of the spacecraft led to it burning and disintegrating upon entering our planet's atmosphere.
By the time of the Columbia accident, the US was already reaffirmed as a great aerospace power, in fact there is always a certain statistical probability that accidents of this type will occur, but the impact would not be easily erased from people. For that reason and working on improvements to avoid tragedies, aerospace flight launches were suspended for more than 2 years from the Columbia accident, until the launch of Discovery.
A successful 12-day mission
Scheduled and planned in great detail, Discovery's mission was to bring supplies to the International Space Station, but there was an even more important mission, to improve security maneuvers and to revive people's confidence in space missions, all objectives were met.
At 4:39 pm from Cape Canaveral, the shuttle Discovery departed on its important mission. In approximately 10 minutes, the spacecraft was out of Earth orbit and in a few days it was on the International Space Station, delivering supplies to its crew.
The images of the seven Discovery crewmembers, with their orange suits, smiling and greeting the country and the world, plus the image of the launch of the ship, added to the publicity of the success of the mission. It was a necessary campaign for the United States and for aerospace exploration which, as a whole, had been affected by the Columbia tragedy shortly before.
Thanks to the preparation, corrections, and improvements of the systems on board, the voyage of Discovery was carried out without major setbacks or accidents, for the United States that success became a national achievement that raised the spirits of its citizens, bringing tranquility and renewing confidence in space travel.
