FLOWN SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN LANDING GEAR TIRE: DISCOVERY (OV‑103), STS‑82 / HST SERVICING MISSION 2, LEFT MAIN OUTBOARD

Michelin AIR, 1997. Black elastomer aircraft tire molded “MICHELIN AIR,” size 44.5 × 16.0–21 (for 21‑in. wheel), with the serial 5143N00315 impressed to the sidewall; marked “MADE IN U.S.A. 25663‑1.” Overall diameter approx. 44½ in.

The molded serial 5143N00315 is recorded in Dennis R. Jenkins, Space Shuttle: Developing an Icon, 1972–2013, vol. II, which identifies this tire as the left main outboard wheel tire fitted to Orbiter Discovery (OV‑103) for STS‑82, the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 2, flown 11–21 February 1997.

The Shuttle’s main‑gear tires were among the most demanding ever engineered, light enough for orbital flight yet capable of absorbing touchdown at airliner‑beating speeds and loads. Each was used for a single landing and then retired, making mission‑specific, orbiter‑identified flown examples notably scarce. This tire returned Discovery safely to Earth at the close of STS‑82, a nine‑day mission that transformed the capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope. During five spacewalks the crew installed the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Near‑Infrared Camera and Multi‑Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor, and carried out critical repairs and insulation upgrades- work that enabled Hubble to produce many of its most celebrated images and data sets in the decade that followed.

Discovery, the program’s most flown orbiter, carried out 39 missions (including both post‑Challenger and post‑Columbia “Return to Flight” flights), deploying and later servicing Hubble, supporting Mir and ISS assembly, and book‑ending the Shuttle era from 1984 to 2011.

Condition: Evidence of runway use with scuffing and abrasion to the tread and sidewalls; legends and serial numbering clear; structurally sound and stable. A dramatic and well‑documented relic from the second Hubble servicing mission.

Note: Owing to its size and weight, special handling and crating or pick-up by a third-party will be required.

[NASA, Space Exploration, Apollo Program]