Final Flight for Space Shuttle Discovery-Mission STS-133

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 24, 2011) - To mark the final launch of Space Shuttle Discovery (Mission STS-133), the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), today issued the following statement:

"Discovery has served our country well and is a global showcase for the Canadarm, an icon of Canadian innovation around the world. The shuttle has transported some of Canada's finest technological contributions to space exploration, as well as some of our most accomplished astronauts.

"Over the past 26 years, more than a third of our astronaut voyages have been aboard Discovery. The Space Shuttle has also transported such high-profile Canadian space technologies and projects as:

• Dextre, the most sophisticated space robot ever built;

• The VASCULAR experiment, which studies the aging process in humans; and

• APEX-CSA2, which studies how trees make wood of benefit to the forestry industry.

"Our government is extremely proud of CSA's outstanding partnership with NASA, which has spanned nearly 50 years of space exploration, and looks forward to working together to explore the frontiers of space exploration long into the future."