Space Shuttle Discovery Lands on Earth After Final Voyage

The space shuttle Discovery has returned to Earth from its final mission, never to soar in orbit again.

In the end, Discovery — NASA's oldest and most traveled shuttle — flew its last mission the same way it flew its first: with grace and pride, and with keen eyes around the world watching it every step of the way.

Space shuttle Discovery sails high over the southwestern coast of Morocco in this image taken by International Space Station astronauts just after the two vehicles undocked on March 7, 2011 during the STS-133 mission.

NASA is bringing its 30-year space shuttle program to an end later this year to focus on exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. The orbiter will begin a months-long decontamination process to ensure that it is safe for public display in a museum NASA has two more shuttle missions planned — Endeavour's STS-134 flight in April, and Atlantis' final STS-135 flight in June. Space.com