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Pictures below are of the Space Shuttle Discovery STS116 taking off from launch pad39b at the kennedy space center on its night launch on 10/12/06 for its mission to the international space centre.
Image above: STS-116 and Expedition 14 crew members take a moment for a group picture shortly after the hatches opened between Space Shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA TV
STS-116 Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang will go spacewalking today. The primary objective of the spacewalk is to install a new piece to the space station's girder-like truss. The two-ton piece will be the fifth truss segment added to the port side of the station and is called the P5 spacer.
From inside the space station Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham will use the station's robotic arm to move the new segment with only inches of clearance into its installation position. The spacewalkers will assist by providing two extra pairs of eyes as the exacting operation is carried out.
Once the segment is in place, Curbeam and Fuglesang will bolt it to its permanent position and finalize installation with power, data and heater cable connections.
Pilot Bill Oefelein will coordinate the spacewalk, which is slated to begin at 3:42 p.m. EST and conclude at 9:52 p.m.
Two more spacewalks are slated for STS-116, on Thursday and Saturday. All three will be based out of the station’s Quest Airlock.
Also, the STS-116 and Expedition 14 crews will continue joint operations, which began Monday evening.
Image above: A camera aboard Space Shuttle Discovery captured this view of the International Space Station as the shuttle approached for docking. Image credit: NASA TV
Page updated 15/12/2006
Image above: STS-116 Mission Specialist Bob Curbeam floats with his spacesuit in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station as he prepares for the mission's first spacewalk. Image Credit: NASA
Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang took on the roles of electricians and movers during STS-116’s second spacewalk at the International Space Station. During the 5-hour excursion, which ended at 7:41 p.m. EST Thursday, they rearranged the station’s power system from a temporary status to a permanent setup and relocated two equipment carts.
To prepare the station for the spacewalkers’ electrical work, flight controllers sent a barrage of commands to power down roughly half of the station’s systems.
The spacewalk kicked off at 2:41 p.m., and Curbeam and Fuglesang quickly went to work rewiring two of the station’s four power channels. After they finished the connections, flight controllers began sending commands at 4:45 p.m. to power up the electrical systems in their new configuration.
The remaining two channels will be rewired during the mission’s third spacewalk, slated for Saturday. The STS-116 crew is performing the electrical work to bring power generated by the P4 solar arrays on line for use by the station's systems and prepare for more arrays to be added next year.
The duo then turned their attention to the relocation of two crew equipment translation aid carts. This cleared the way for the station’s mobile transporter rail car to move down the station's rail system to the S1 truss at a later date in preparation for the STS-117 mission next spring. The final task of the spacewalk was the rerouting of cables on the Z1 truss.
Pilot Bill Oefelein coordinated the spacewalk activities. Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams and STS-116 Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham operated the station’s robotic arm.
In other activities, STS-116 and Expedition 14 crew members continued cargo transfers between Space Shuttle Discovery and the station.
Page updated 16/12/06
STS-116 Mission Specialists Robert L. Curbeam, Jr. (left) and Christer Fuglesang participate in the first of the mission's three planned sessions of extravehicular activity as construction resumes on the International Space Station
Page updated 19/12/2006
Image at side: Mission Specialist Bob Curbeam works with a solar array during the fourth spacewalk of the STS-116 mission. Image Credit: NASA TV
The STS-116 crew folded the port solar array on the International Space Station’s P6 truss during the mission's fourth spacewalk. The 6-hour, 38 minute excursion by Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang concluded at 8:38 p.m. EST Monday.
Curbeam and Fuglesang freed up the array for retraction with several techniques -- pulling guide wires, flipping grommets, and pushing panel hinges. The spacewalkers also shook the solar array panel. The final bay was folded about 6:54 p.m. EST.
One of the guide wires looped out of the proper configuration during the folding process and the spacewalkers tightened it before commands were sent to latch the arrays.
Another objective of Monday’s spacewalk, which was STS-116’s fourth, was to collect information that could prove useful when the opposite side of the array is retracted during the STS-117 mission in March.
The start of the spacewalk at 2 p.m. was a historic moment for Curbeam, who became the first astronaut to conduct four spacewalks during a single mission. This was Fuglesang’s third. Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams conducted one.
Pilot Bill Oefelein coordinated the spacewalk activities. Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham and Williams were at the controls of the station’s robot arm, Canadarm2.
Attention now turns to Discovery’s departure. Discovery is scheduled to undock at 5:09 p.m. Tuesday, ending STS-116’s eight-day stay at the station.
Page updated 20/12/06
Image at side: STS-116 Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham retrieves items from a drawer on the middeck of the Space Shuttle Discovery during flight day six activities. Image Credit: NASA TV
The STS-116 crew will conduct a final inspection of Space Shuttle Discovery’s heat shield today.
The crew will use the shuttle’s robotic arm and boom extension sensor system to check the heat shield for any space junk or micrometeoroid hits that may have occurred while the orbiter was docked to the International Space Station. The routine inspections are conducted after undocking in preparation for landing, which is scheduled for 3:56 p.m. EST Friday at the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida.
Discovery undocked from the station Tuesday, ending an eight-day stay at the orbital outpost. While there, the crew continued the on-orbit construction of the station with the addition of the P5 spacer truss segment during the first of four spacewalks. The next two spacewalks were devoted to the rewiring of the station’s power system, leaving it in a permanent setup. A fourth spacewalk was added to allow the crew to retract solar arrays that had folded improperly.
Discovery also delivered a new crew member and more than two tons of equipment and supplies to the station. Almost two tons of items no longer needed on the station will return to Earth with STS-116.
Page updated 27/12/2006
Discovery touches down at Kennedy space center at 5.32 est on dec 22nd
Some Pictures from the mission
The crew heading for the pad
boosters afloat
Above the clouds
Bob Curbeam prepares to replace a faulty tv camera outside the space station
A view of the international space station after undocking on dec 19th
NASA's Shuttle and Rocket Missions
¹ New Update -- Dec. 9, 2006 9:10 p.m. | All times shown are Eastern Time Zone
A variety of vehicles, launch sites on both U.S. coasts, shifting dates and times... the NASA Launch Schedule might seem confusing, but our Launch Schedule 101 explains how it all works!
Date/2007 Mission Vehicle Launch Site
Feb. 15 THEMIS
THEMIS will study the dynamic and colorful eruptions of auroras.
Launch Time: 6:07:37 p.m.¹
March 16* STS-117
STS-117 will deliver a second starboard truss segment and a third set of solar arrays and batteries during the Space Shuttle Program's 21st mission to the International Space Station.
April 25*¹ AIM
A NASA space mission designed to study the highest clouds in the earth's atmosphere -- clouds at the edge of space.
Launch Time: 4:25:16 p.m.¹
May 31* Missile Defense Agency Block 2010 Spacecraft Risk Reduction
To be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), STSS Block 2010 Risk Reduction serves as a pathfinder for future launch and mission technology for MDA.
June 20 Dawn
The Dawn Mission will be the first time a spacecraft will orbit two planetary bodies on a single voyage as it studies Ceres and Vesta.
June 28* STS-118
STS-118 will deliver the S5 Truss and will be the twenty-second mission to the International Space Station.
Aug. 3 Phoenix
Phoenix is the new Mars lander mission and the first of NASA's scout missions. Phoenix will work to uncover clues in the martian arctic soils about the history of water and potential for habitability.
Sept. 7* STS-120
STS-120 will be the twenty-third mission to the International Space Station and deliver the U.S. Node 2.
October* STS-122
STS-122 will deliver the Columbus European Laboratory Module and will be the twenty-fourth mission to the International Space Station.
Oct. 7 GLAST
An heir to its successful predecessor – the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory – GLAST will have the ability to detect gamma rays in a range of energies from thousands to hundreds of billions of times more energetic than the light visible to the human eye. Radiation of such magnitude can only be generated under the most extreme conditions, thus GLAST will focus on studying the most energetic objects and phenomena in the universe.
Nov. 25¹ Missile Defense Agency STSS Block 2006
To be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), STSS Block 2006 will demonstrate the key functions of a space based sensor, passing missile tracking data to missile defense interceptors with the accuracy and timeliness necessary to enable them to successfully intercept missile targets.
December* STS-123
STS-123 will deliver the pressurized section of the Kibo Japanese Experiment Logistics Module on the twenty-fifth mission to the International Space Station.
Dec. 6* NOAA-N Prime
The NOAA-N Prime is a polar orbiting satellite used in weather and climate prediction by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
