OTD…March 24 and STS-45

The final manned Mercury mission was launched atop an Atlas rocket on this day in 1963 with Gordon Cooper aboard Faith 7 for a 34-hour, 22-orbit flight.

#OTD in 1990…Columbia launched to retrieve NASA’s Long duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) on the longest Shuttle flight to date.

Today in 2011, shuttle Discovery made a graceful landing at Kennedy Space Center, returning from her final voyage after a remarkable three-decade life of service.