Rockwell International · Reusable orbital spacecraft
HISTORICAL FIELD NOTE
Discovery was NASA’s third operational space shuttle orbiter and flew 39 missions from 1984 to 2011, more than any other member of the fleet. Its work included deploying the Hubble Space Telescope, supporting International Space Station assembly, and flying both of NASA’s post-accident return-to-flight missions.
INTERACTIVE MODEL LOADS WHEN NEARBY
2016 / ModernAirframe B
F-35A Lightning II
Lockheed Martin · Conventional multirole fighter
HISTORICAL FIELD NOTE
The conventional-runway F-35A combines low-observable shaping, sensor fusion, and internal weapons carriage with the lightest airframe and largest internal fuel load of the three F-35 variants. It entered U.S. Air Force operational service in 2016 and is designed for both air-to-air and precision-strike missions.
PERFORMANCE
SPECIFICATION BREAKDOWN
METRICSpace Shuttle DiscoveryF-35A Lightning II
Top speed
Orbital velocityDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Mach 1.6REFERENCE VALUE
Ceiling
Low Earth orbitDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
50,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
Range
39 orbital missionsREFERENCE VALUE
1,200+ nmiAPPROXIMATE / PUBLISHED
Archive milestone
Service entry · 1984REFERENCE VALUE
Service entry · 2016REFERENCE VALUE
Nation
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Primary role
Reusable orbital spacecraftDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Conventional multirole fighterDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Values are concise archive references and can vary by variant, payload, configuration, altitude, operating conditions, and source. Range may describe different published measures where a directly comparable figure is unavailable.
