From left, American shuttle astronauts Charles Precourt and Dominic Gorie listen as Franklin Chang-Diaz speaks at a news conference at Florida‘s Kennedy Space Center after the return of Discovery. Chang-Diaz is discussing the health of fellow astronaut Andrew Thomas, who spent about 4 1/2 months aboard the Russian space station Mir and came back aboard Discovery. (Roberto Schmidt / AFP/Getty Images)
Astronaut Story Musgrave speaks to elementary school students at Florida‘s Mount Dora Bible School in 2008. Musgrave flew on six space shuttle flights, including the maiden voyage of Challenger in 1983. (Tom Benitez / Orlando Sentinel)
In a TV image, Discovery commander James Wetherbee discusses the shuttle’s upcoming landing with mission control. (NASA TV / Associated Press)
