FLOWN SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN LANDING GEAR TIRE: DISCOVERY (OV‑103), STS‑41, RIGHT MAIN OUTBOARD

B.F. Goodrich Aerospace, 1990. Black elastomer aircraft tire molded “B.F. Goodrich,” size 44.5 × 16.0–21, 34‑ply rating, tubeless; sidewall legends “228 KNOTS,” “.10 SKID,” “MAXIMUM SIX LANDINGS.” Serial 9115N00270 molded to the sidewall. Approx. 44½ in.overall diameter (16 in. section width; 21 in. rim).

The molded serial 9115N00270 is recorded in Dennis R. Jenkins, Space Shuttle: Developing an Icon, 1972–2013, vol. II, as the right main outboard tire for Orbiter Discovery (OV‑103) on STS‑41, the program’s 36th flight, launched 6 October 1990 and landed 10 October 1990. The “right main outboard” position designates the wheel on the starboard main‑gear truck furthest from the fuselage.

Discovery flew 39 missions from 1984 to 2011. She returned America to space after the Challenger accident (STS‑26, 1988), carried Hubble Space Telescope to orbit (STS‑31, 1990), flew the first U.S.–Russia Shuttle mission (STS‑60, 1994), and led the two post‑Columbia “Return to Flight” missions (STS‑114, 2005; STS‑121, 2006).

The STS‑41 mission on which this tire flew successfully deployed Ulysses, the joint ESA/NASA probe that used a Jupiter gravity assist to achieve a polar orbit of the Sun and transform understanding of the heliosphere and solar wind.

Shuttle main‑gear tires were among the most highly stressed ever produced, engineered by B.F. Goodrich to accept touchdown speeds near ~228 knots and enormous dynamic loads, yet light enough for spaceflight. Sidewalls carried a “maximum six landings” limitation, but in practice tires were typically changed after a single landing, making mission‑specific, orbiter‑identified flown examples uncommon. As a component that flew in space and returned Discovery safely to Earth, this tire is a historic artifact linking a landmark science mission to the storied career of the Shuttle that set more records than any of her sisters.

Condition: Runway scuffing and abrasion consistent with landing use; sidewall legends and serial crisp; structurally sound. An impressive, display‑scale relic of Shuttle operations with authoritative mission attribution.