The space shuttle Discovery returned to Earth for the last time this morning, ending its reign as the world's longest running and most-traveled spaceship. "It just played out the way we wanted it to," said Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana in a press conference after the landing. "We wanted to go out on a high note, and Discovery has done that. We couldn't ask for more." When it touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:57 EST on March 9, 2011, Discovery had flown 39 missions, spent a full 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times and traveled more than of 148 million miles. It has carried 246 people into space, more than any other vehicle, including the first woman to ever pilot a spacecraft, the oldest person to fly in space, the first African-American to perform a spacewalk and the first sitting member of Congress to fly in space. The shuttle's 27-year career hit several of the highlights of the space program, including delivering the Hubble Space Telescope to orbit in 1990 (and fixing it twice), carrying a 77-year-old John Glenn back into space in 1998, and leading NASA's return to space after the loss of Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. On its final flight, the shuttle linked up with the International Space Station to deliver a new spare room full of supplies and science experiments, plus bring the first human-like robot into space. "We're going to miss Discovery," International Space Station commander Scott Kelly told shuttle commander Steve Lindsey on Sunday, before Discovery's crew left the space station. "Discovery has been a great ship, and has really supported the International Space Station, more so than, I think, any other space shuttle. And we wish her fair winds and following seas." Now that it's back on the ground, Discovery will retire as a museum piece at the Smithsonian. Here we look back at the veteran spacecraft's high points as the shuttle era draws to a close. Image: NASA

Discovery's final journey was originally scheduled for November 2010, but a leaky fuel tank postponed the launch until Feb. 24, 2011. The delays echoed Discovery's first launch in 1984 (shown above), which was scrubbed twice before the shuttle finally got off the ground. The first launch attempt, on June 25, 1984, was called off because of a computer failure. The second launch was aborted 6 seconds before liftoff, when an engine failed to start and sparked a fire. Discovery finally took off for its first voyage on Aug. 30, 1984. Image: NASA

The crew aboard the International Space Station took a series of photographs of Discovery as it made a complete 360-degree backflip in August 2009. Image: NASA

After the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff in 1986, Discovery led the return to human spaceflight. This image shows Discovery taking off from Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 29, 1988, on the STS-26 mission. Image: NASA

After the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed while returning to Earth in 2003, Discovery became the oldest surviving shuttle in the fleet. Discovery led the first post-Columbia mission (shown in three images above and below), STS-114, in July 2005. Images: NASA

The Hubble Space Telescope left Discovery's cargo bay in April 1990. Unfortunately, an aberration on one of the mirrors kept the telescope from snapping its famous sharp images of the cosmos until a repair mission could fly in 1993. Discovery flew two of the following service missions to Hubble, one in 1997 and one in 1999. Image: NASA

Astronaut John Glenn made history when he became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962, and again when he flew aboard Discovery in 1998 at the age of 77. He is the oldest human ever to fly in space. Discovery was also commanded by the first female shuttle pilot, Eileen Collins, in 1995. Images: NASA

Discovery caught a piggy-back ride on NASA's 747 shuttle carrier aircraft from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana to Kennedy Space Center, Florida in August 2005. Air Force Security Forces personnel set up a security perimeter. At 121 feet long and with 78 foot wingspans, space shuttles are less than half as long and about a third as wide as commercial 747s, which are 250 feet long and have 224 foot wingspans. Image: Department of Defense/Master Sgt. Michael A. Kaplan, U.S. Air Force.

Discovery took off from Kennedy Space Center on July 4, 2006, making it the first shuttle ever to launch on Independence Day. Image: NASA

Discovery approached the International Space Station on Oct. 25, 2007. The Harmony node, which increased the amount of usable space in the ISS to 18,000 cubic feet, is visible in Discovery's cargo bay. Image: NASA