STS-116 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Crew notes

Originally this mission was to carry the Expedition 8

Expedition 8

Expedition 8 was the eighth expedition to the International Space Station.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Perigee: 384 km*Apogee: 396 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 92 min*Docked: 20 October 2003 - 07:15:58 UTC...

crew to the ISS. The original crew was to be:

Mission highlights

The STS-116 mission delivered and attached the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

's third port truss segment, the P5 truss
Integrated Truss Structure
the Integrated Truss Structure forms the backbone of the International Space Station, with mountings for unpressurized logistics carriers, radiators, solar arrays, and other equipment.-History:...

.
The STS-116 mission brought to the Station Expedition 14
Expedition 14
Expedition 14 was the 14th expedition to the International Space Station . Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 18 September 2006, 04:09 UTC, aboard Soyuz TMA-9. They joined Thomas Reiter, who had arrived at the ISS on 6 July 2006...

crew member Sunita Williams
Sunita Williams
Sunita Williams is a United States Naval officer and a NASA astronaut. She was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and then joined Expedition 15...

(who subsequently established a record for most time in space for a female astronaut) and brought home Expedition 14 crew member Thomas Reiter
Thomas Reiter
Thomas Arthur Reiter is a retired European astronaut and is a Brigadier General in the Luftwaffe currently working as Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations at the European Space Agency . , he was one of the top 25 astronauts in terms of total time in space...

from European Space Agency (launched by STS-121
STS-121
STS-121 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. The main purposes of the mission were to test new safety and repair techniques introduced following the Columbia disaster of February 2003 as well as to deliver supplies, equipment and...

).
Christer Fuglesang
Christer Fuglesang
Dr. Arne Christer Fuglesang is a Swedish physicist and an ESA astronaut. He was first launched aboard the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission on December 10, 2006, at 01:47 GMT, making him the first Swedish citizen in space....

became Sweden's first astronaut. His flight was a rare occurrence of two ESA astronauts
European Astronaut Corps
The European Astronaut Corps is a unit of the European Space Agency that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members on U.S. and Russian space missions. As of May 2010, 21 ESA astronauts have flown in space, including one female. There are currently 14 active members of the Corps. The...

flying in space together.
The third of three SPHERES
SPHERES
The Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites experiment is a testbed consisting of three miniaturized satellites that can operate in a variety of environments, including inside the International Space Station...

testbeds launched to the ISS.
Astronauts completed major rewiring of the electrical system of the International Space Station
Electrical system of the International Space Station
The electrical system of the International Space Station is a critical resource for the International Space Station because it allows the crew to live comfortably, to safely operate the station, and to perform scientific experiments. The ISS electrical system uses solar cells to directly convert...

in order to bring online the P3/P4 solar array installed by STS-115
STS-115
Note:The P3/P4 Truss segment and batteries were so heavy that the crew count was reduced from seven to six.-Crew notes:...

in September 2006.
Additional rewiring was done to ISS Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 (PMA2) to enable Station-Shuttle Power Transfer System
Electrical system of the International Space Station
The electrical system of the International Space Station is a critical resource for the International Space Station because it allows the crew to live comfortably, to safely operate the station, and to perform scientific experiments. The ISS electrical system uses solar cells to directly convert...

(SSPTS) commencing with STS-118
STS-118
- Crew notes :Astronaut Clayton Anderson originally was slated to be launched to the ISS on this mission, but was moved to STS-117. His replacement was Alvin Drew....

.
One half of the original P6 solar array installed by STS-97
STS-97
STS-97 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. The crew installed the first set of solar arrays to the ISS, prepared a docking port for arrival of the Destiny Laboratory Module, and delivered supplies for the station's crew.-Crew:-Mission...

was folded to make room for the new P4 array deployed by STS-115 to rotate and track the sun.
STS-116 was the last STS mission scheduled for launch from pad 39B. The pad will be refitted for upcoming Ares I
Ares I
Ares I was the crew launch vehicle that was being developed by NASA as part of the Constellation Program. The name "Ares" refers to the Greek deity Ares, who is identified with the Roman god Mars...

launches.
The crew of STS-116 consisted of five rookie astronauts. Only Mission Commander Mark Polansky
Mark L. Polansky
Mark Lewis "Roman" Polansky is an American aerospace engineer and research pilot and a NASA astronaut. Polansky received the nickname "Roman" as a joke, because he shares a last name with director Roman Polanski. He has flown on three Space Shuttle missions: STS-98, STS-116, and...

(2) and Mission specialist Robert Curbeam
Robert Curbeam
Robert Lee Curbeam, Jr. is a former American astronaut, and Captain in the United States Navy.Curbeam graduated from Woodlawn High School, Baltimore County, Maryland in 1980...

(3) had previously flown in space.
Robert Curbeam became the first astronaut to make four EVA
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...

s during the same mission.
This was the first mission with two African-American crewmembers.

Mission notes

As one of the main goals of STS-116 was to exchange ISS

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

Expedition 14

Expedition 14 was the 14th expedition to the International Space Station . Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 18 September 2006, 04:09 UTC, aboard Soyuz TMA-9. They joined Thomas Reiter, who had arrived at the ISS on 6 July 2006...

crew members, the crew of STS-116 changed mid-flight. ISS Flight Engineer Sunita "Suni" Williams

Sunita Williams

Sunita Williams is a United States Naval officer and a NASA astronaut. She was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and then joined Expedition 15...

was part of the STS-116 crew for the first portion of the mission. She then replaced ISS Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter

Thomas Reiter

Thomas Arthur Reiter is a retired European astronaut and is a Brigadier General in the Luftwaffe currently working as Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations at the European Space Agency . , he was one of the top 25 astronauts in terms of total time in space...

on the Expedition 14 crew and Reiter joined the STS-116 crew for the return to Earth.

Final Assembly Power Converter Unit mission for Discovery

During planned Orbiter upgrades to take place subsequent to this mission, Discoverys Assembly Power Converter Units (APCUs) will be removed and replaced with the shuttle-side components of the Station-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS). The APCUs converted 28VDC Orbiter main bus power to 124VDC compatible with ISS 120VDC main bus power. During initial station assembly missions, Orbiter APCU power was used to augment the power available from the Russian service segment. With the operation of permanent main electrical systems (e.g. P4 array and SARJ, MBSUs, DDCUs, Ammonia cooling systems), Orbiter power is no longer needed by the ISS.

In future missions beginning with STS-118

STS-118

- Crew notes :Astronaut Clayton Anderson originally was slated to be launched to the ISS on this mission, but was moved to STS-117. His replacement was Alvin Drew....

, Orbiter vehicles will draw power from the ISS. The SSPTS will convert from Station 120VDC to Orbiter 28VDC. This will slow the Orbiter vehicles' consumption of hydrogen and oxygen used by the on-board electricity-generating fuel cells. The hydrogen and oxygen supplies, stored cryogenically in tanks aboard the Orbiter, limit the duration of Space Shuttle missions. As a result of the changeover to SSPTS, shuttles will gain approximately 50% of the time that would have been spent docked otherwise. This results in 2–4 extra days for each ISS-docked mission.

Mission payloads

The primary payload for the STS-116 mission was the P5 Truss

Integrated Truss Structure

the Integrated Truss Structure forms the backbone of the International Space Station, with mountings for unpressurized logistics carriers, radiators, solar arrays, and other equipment.-History:...

segment of the International Space Station

International Space Station

. The shuttle also carried a Spacehab

SPACEHAB

Astrotech Corporation , formerly Spacehab Inc., is an aerospace company headquartered in Austin, Texas which provides commercial space products and services to NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, international space agencies, and global commercial customers...

Logistics Module to resupply the ISS, and an Integrated Cargo Carrier

Integrated cargo carrier

Integrated Cargo Carriers were unpressurized flat bed pallet and keel yoke assemblies carried in the Space Shuttle payload bay, but were never removed during flight. Note that External Stowage Platforms 1 thru 3 and ExPRESS Logistics Carriers 1 thru 4 were of similar construction but were intended...

with four sub-satellites, which were deployed after undocking from the ISS: the ANDE

Andé

Andé is a commune in the Eure department and Haute-Normandie region of France.-Population:-References:*...

technology demonstrator, developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, and three CubeSat

CubeSat

A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a volume of exactly one liter , has a mass of no more than 1.33 kilograms, and typically uses commercial off-the-shelf electronics components...

s (RAFT-1 and MARScom for the United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

, and MEPSI 2A/2B for DARPA

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military...

). It was the first Shuttle mission to deploy satellites since STS-113

STS-113

STS-113 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. During the 14-day mission in late 2002, Endeavour and its crew extended the ISS backbone with the P1 truss and exchanged the Expedition 5 and Expedition 6 crews aboard the station...

in 2002.

Location

Cargo

Mass

Bay 1–2

Orbiter Docking System

1800 kilograms (3,968.3 lb)?

Bay 3

Tunnel Adapter

112 kilograms (246.9 lb)

Bay 4–5

Spacehab Logistics Module

5399 kilograms (11,902.8 lb)

Bay 5P?

APCU (Assembly Power Converter Unit) (28VDC-to-124VDC)
with SPDU (Station Power Distribution Unit)

2 x 35 kilograms (77.2 lb)
20 kilograms (44.1 lb)

Bay 7–8

Truss segment P5

1860 kilograms (4,100.6 lb)

Bay 11–12

Integrated Cargo Carrier	839 kilograms (1,849.7 lb)
STP-H2, FRAM	1398 kilograms (3,082.1 lb)
Service Module Debris Panels	100 kilograms (220.5 lb)?
RAFT-1	4 kilograms (8.8 lb)
MARScom	3 kilograms (6.6 lb)
MEPSI 2A/2B	3 kilograms (6.6 lb)
ANDE launch cylinder	20 kilograms (44.1 lb)?
ANDE-MAA	50 kilograms (110.2 lb)
ANDE-FCAL	75 kilograms (165.3 lb)

total 2942 kilograms (6,486 lb)

Sill

OBSS (Orbital Boom Sensor System) 202

450 kilograms (992.1 lb)?

Sill

RMS 303

390 kilograms (859.8 lb)

Mission background

STS-116 was planned (post return-to-flight

STS-114

-Original crew:This mission was to carry the Expedition 7 crew to the ISS and bring home the Expedition 6 crew. The original crew was to be:-Mission highlights:...

) to launch on 14 December 2006. But on 29 November 2006 NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

announced that the launch team had been asked to aim for a launch on 7 December 2006 rather than the original target date of 14 December. The launch window for the STS-116 mission opened on 7 December and extended through 17 December. The seven-member flight crew arrived for launch at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility on 3 December 2006 in the afternoon.
Primary payloads on the 13-day mission were the P5 integrated truss segment, SPACEHAB single logistics module, and an integrated cargo carrier. The STS-116 mission was the 20th Shuttle flight to the station.

Launch on the new, earlier date required a night-time launch. Subsequent to the Columbia disaster
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members...

, NASA had imposed rules requiring shuttle launches to be conducted during the day, when light would be sufficient for cameras to observe falling debris. With the redesign of shuttle tank foam having minimized the amount of falling debris and the availability of in-orbit inspection procedures, the daylight-launch requirement was relaxed.

Rollover of Discovery to the Vehicle Assembly Building

Vehicle Assembly Building

The Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center was used to assemble and house American manned launch vehicles from 1968-2011. It is the fourth largest building in the world by volume...

(VAB) occurred on 31 October, and on 1 November the orbiter was raised into a vertical orientation and moved into High Bay 3 to be mated with the external tank

Space Shuttle external tank

A Space Shuttle External Tank is the component of the Space Shuttle launch vehicle that contains the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. During lift-off and ascent it supplies the fuel and oxidizer under pressure to the three Space Shuttle Main Engines in the orbiter...

and solid rocket boosters

Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster

The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters were the pair of large solid rockets used by the United States' NASA Space Shuttle during the first two minutes of powered flight. Together they provided about 83% of liftoff thrust for the Space Shuttle. They were located on either side of the rusty or...

. Rollout to Launch Complex 39B

Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39

Launch Complex 39 is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built for the Apollo program, and later modified to support Space Shuttle operations. NASA began modifying LC-39 in 2007 to...

was completed on Thursday 11 November.

The crew for the mission arrived at Kennedy Space Center on 13 November to begin their final four-day prelaunch training for the mission, which included familiarization activities, rehearsal of emergency procedures and practice on NASA's Shuttle Training Aircraft, along with a simulated countdown, which took place on the morning of 16 November 2006. The astronauts then traveled to Johnson Space Center

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight training, research and flight control. The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on 1,620 acres in Houston, Texas, USA...

in Houston, Texas, and returned to Kennedy Space Center on 3 December 2006, four days before the planned launch date.

The payloads for the mission, including a SPACEHAB module and the P5 truss, were loaded from the payload canister into Discovery's payload bay on 16 November, and, with the sealing of the payload bay doors, all that remained was to fill the external fuel tank before the Discovery shuttle stack was in full launch configuration. With the completion of the Flight Readiness Review over 28–29 November (which evaluated all activities and elements necessary for the safe and successful performance of the shuttle during the mission, including the Orbiter itself, the payload and flight crew), Discovery was given her Certificate of Flight Readiness, the launch date was officially set to 7 December 2006, and the mission officially given the "Go" for launch.

7 December (Launch attempt 1)

Following the completion of the pre-launch preparations, all eyes were on the Florida skies, due to a forecast low cloud ceiling for the night of the launch. The mission's seven astronauts were loaded into Discovery ready for the scheduled launch at 21:37 EST, with hopes high for a break in the clouds, but as the scheduled launch time approached it became apparent that the cloud would not break, and the launch attempt was scrubbed, with the next attempt scheduled for 9 December 2006.
Prior to the initial attempt on 7 December, NASA had determined that they would not attempt a launch on Friday because of a cold front

Surface weather analysis

Surface weather analysis is a special type of weather map that provides a view of weather elements over a geographical area at a specified time based on information from ground-based weather stations...

moving in that eventually scrubbed Thursday's launch attempt.

9 December (Flight day 1 – Launch)

Discovery lifted off successfully at 8:47 pm EST (01:47 UTC), lighting up the Florida's coastline. Weather conditions – in particular crosswinds at the launch and landing sites – continued to trend positively in the hours approaching the launch window Saturday night. The fueling process for Discovery's external tanks began at 12:46 EST (17:46 UTC) and was completed at approximately 15:45 EST (20:45 UTC). If a transatlantic abort landing (TAL) had been required during ascent, the shuttle had three possible landing sites: Zaragoza

Zaragoza Airport

-Cargo airlines:-Traffic:-External links:* *...

or Morón Air Base

Morón Air Base

Morón Air Base is located at in southern Spain, approximately southeast of the city of Seville and northeast of Naval Station Rota. The base gets its name from the nearby town of Morón de la Frontera - although its is actually located in the municipality of Arahal.Morón's massive flight line,...

in Spain, or Istres

Istres Air Base

Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is a large multi-role tasked French Air Force base located near Istres, northwest of Marseille, France. The airport facilities are also known as Istres - Le Tubé .- Armée de l'air :...

, France.

The launch was the third shuttle mission in five months, being preceded by STS-121

STS-121

STS-121 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. The main purposes of the mission were to test new safety and repair techniques introduced following the Columbia disaster of February 2003 as well as to deliver supplies, equipment and...

in July and STS-115

STS-115

Note:The P3/P4 Truss segment and batteries were so heavy that the crew count was reduced from seven to six.-Crew notes:...

in September, and was the first night launch in four years since STS-113

STS-113

and first night launch following the Columbia accident during STS-107

STS-107

-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Liftoff: **Orbiter Landing: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 90.1 min- Insignia :...

10 December (Flight day 2)

Flight day 2 began for the astronauts at 15:47 UTC. The first order of business for the day was a thorough inspection of the Shuttle. Using sensors and cameras attached to a fifty-foot boom, which was in turn connected to a fifty-foot robotic arm, Nicholas Patrick inspected the leading edge of the wings and the nose cap. The process, which took five and a half hours, suffered a minor glitch that required Patrick to order the arm to manually grab the boom. During this time, the crew also inspected the upper surface of the orbiter. Astronauts also completed a check of the spacesuits to be used during the mission, along with preparation for docking with the International Space Station

International Space Station

11 December (Flight day 3 – Docking to ISS)

Flight day 3 began for the astronauts at 15:18 UTC. Following the rendezvous pitch maneuver

Rendezvous pitch maneuver

The R-bar pitch maneuver , popularly called the rendezvous pitch maneuver, was a maneuver performed by the space shuttle as it rendezvoused with the International Space Station prior to docking. The shuttle performed a backflip that exposed its heat-shield to the crew of the ISS that made...

, docking to the International Space Station

International Space Station

occurred at 22:12 UTC. The hatch between the International Space Station and Discovery was opened at 23:54 UTC. The joint ISS/Shuttle crew then worked to undertake some further detailed inspection of the orbiter and unloaded the P5 truss segment from the payload bay, handing it off successfully from the shuttle robotic arm to the station arm

Mobile Servicing System

The Mobile Servicing System , better known by its primary component Canadarm2, is a robotic system and associated equipment on the International Space Station...

. The astronauts scheduled for Day 4's EVA

Extra-vehicular activity

Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...

, Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang, ended their day by entering the airlock for a "campout" sleep session to prepare for the EVA by purging their bodies of nitrogen in a lower-pressure environment. Such a practice is common in order for the astronauts to avoid getting decompression sickness

Decompression sickness

Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...

12 December (Flight day 4 – EVA #1)

Flight day 4 began for the astronauts at 15:47 UTC. During the first EVA

Extra-vehicular activity

of the mission, the astronauts of STS-116 brought the ISS one step closer to completion with the addition of the P5 truss segment.

The EVA began at 20:31 UTC, with Curbeam and Fuglesang removing launch restraints from the P5 truss and Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham making use of the station's robotic arm

Mobile Servicing System

The Mobile Servicing System , better known by its primary component Canadarm2, is a robotic system and associated equipment on the International Space Station...

(the Canadarm2) to move the truss segment to within inches of its new position on the P4 truss. The spacewalkers then guided Higginbotham with visual cues as the precise operation to finalize the attachment of the truss was completed.

After the P5’s attachment, Curbeam and Fuglesang finalized the installation with power, data and heater cable connections. They also replaced a faulty video camera attached to the S1 truss. Since they worked ahead of the time-line, the two astronauts were also able to complete some get-ahead tasks.

At the end of the spacewalk, Curbeam congratulated the Nobel Prize

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

winners, including scientist Dr. John C. Mather

John C. Mather

John Cromwell Mather is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite with George Smoot. COBE was the first experiment to measure ".....

at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Goddard Space Flight Center

The Goddard Space Flight Center is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. GSFC,...

in Greenbelt, Maryland. Mather was honored for his work on the big-bang theory. Christer Fuglesang also held a short speech in Swedish, encouraging Swedes and others to aspire to become future astronauts. The EVA concluded at 03:07 UTC on the morning of 13 December, and lasted for 6 hours and 36 minutes in total.

During the spacewalk, after taking a close look at imagery gathered on the first three days of the flight, mission managers determined that the shuttle’s heat shield would support a safe return to Earth. They also decided a more detailed inspection that had been scheduled for later in the mission would not be necessary.

Three more spacewalks, one of which was unplanned, were required to reconfigure and redistribute power on the station, so that the solar arrays installed during STS-115

STS-115

Note:The P3/P4 Truss segment and batteries were so heavy that the crew count was reduced from seven to six.-Crew notes:...

could be used. The first step of reconfiguring the power took place Wednesday when the port solar array on the P6 truss will be retracted, which allowed the activation and rotation of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint on the P4. The rotary joint allows the solar arrays on the P4 to track the sun.

The astronauts were required to spend the night sleeping in protected areas in order to avoid radiation from a solar flare eruption.

13 December (Flight day 5 – Solar Array Reorganization)

Flight day 5 began for the astronauts at 15:21 UTC. The most high-profile activity was the attempted retraction of the P6 port-side solar array. The process began at 18:28 UTC, but problems with the array folding due to 'kinks' and 'billows' led the controllers to redeploy the array (from about 40% retracted). There then followed a series of more than 40 commands to furl and unfurl the arrays in an effort to get them properly aligned and folded.

At 00:50 UTC, the retraction efforts were abandoned for the day. The problems, which appear to have been caused by a loss of tension in the solar array guide wires, had still not been solved, although 14 of the 31 bays on the array had been retracted (leaving 17 bays extended). This was enough to leave the port side arrays in a safe position to commence the activation of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) at 01:00 UTC, allowing the solar arrays on the P3/P4 truss to rotate to follow the sun.

14 December (Flight day 6 – EVA #2)

Flight day 6 began for the astronauts at 15:19 UTC. The day's primary activity, EVA

Extra-vehicular activity

#2, began rewiring work to bring the station's permanent electrical power systems into use. To allow this changeover, station controllers had to power down about half the systems on the ISS. The EVA started at 19:41 UTC with Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang exiting the Quest airlock

Joint Airlock

The Quest Joint Airlock, previously known as the Joint Airlock Module, is the primary airlock for the International Space Station. Quest was designed to host spacewalks with both Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuits and Orlan space suits. The airlock was launched on STS-104 on July 14, 2001...

, 30 minutes early. EVA #2 was planned to activate channels 2 and 3 of the four-channel electrical system, and the work progressed smoothly. About two hours into the spacewalk the first current was flowing through the reconfigured system, using the power from the P4 solar arrays for the first time. The EVA was completed in exactly 5 hours, finishing at 00:41 UTC.

15 December (Flight day 7)

Flight day 7 was a light work day for the crews of Discovery

Space Shuttle Discovery

Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...

and the ISS

International Space Station

after the previous days' activities. Spacewalkers Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang enjoyed some R&R, while the rest of the crew performed cleanup and preparatory tasks for Flight day 8's planned EVA

Extra-vehicular activity

#3. The traditional joint photo session and joint news conference were held by the crews. During this event Swedish first time astronaut Christer Fuglesang was interviewed by Crown Princess Victoria

Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden

Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland is the heiress-apparent to the Swedish throne. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Sweden's fourth queen regnant .-Early life:...

and also set a 20 second Frisbee world record in space, broadcasted live on Swedish TV4.

In an attempt to free a stuck solar panel, Thomas Reiter exercised vigorously on a machine which is known to cause oscillations in the solar arrays; it was not successful. Mission controllers continued to look at other solutions to the solar panel folding problem so as to enable complete retraction, including an extended or additional EVA.

16 December (Flight day 8 – EVA #3)

Flight day 8 began for the astronauts at 14:48 UTC. Astronauts Bob Curbeam and 'Suni' Williams completed the rewiring work on the International Space Station

International Space Station

. The EVA began at 19:25 UTC and proceeded normally. As an "add-on task" to the EVA, astronauts Curbeam and Williams also continued work on the retraction of a sticking solar array, enabling the retraction of another six sections of the P6 array. At the end of the EVA there were another 11 "bays", or 35% left to retract. Upon completion of the EVA, the astronauts returned to the ISS via the Quest airlock.

Another significant event during the EVA was the loss of 'Suni' Williams' digital camera

Space debris

Space debris, also known as orbital debris, space junk, and space waste, is the collection of objects in orbit around Earth that were created by humans but no longer serve any useful purpose. These objects consist of everything from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to erosion, explosion...

. At the post-EVA press conference it was suggested that a tether got snagged and caused the camera release button to break off allowing the camera to fall out of its holder. Images were lost but it was determined there was no need to retake them. Curbeam later said to the MCC: "We've got the bracket and the tether. Looks like the screws [on the bracket] came loose, we have the screws and the bracket and the tether."

17 December (Flight day 9)

Flight day 9 was mainly spent preparing for EVA #4. The space suits were prepared (adjusting sizes and replacing LiOH canisters) and the crew went through the new procedures which had been developed for attempting to enable the solar array retraction. Various tools were to be coated in kapton tape to protect the array from coming into direct contact with sharp metallic objects and to provide electrical insulation if they are used to manipulate the arrays during the EVA.

18 December (Flight day 10 – EVA #4)

Flight day 10 began for the astronauts at 14:17 UTC. Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang embarked on an added EVA at 17:12 UTC to try to fully close the last eleven bays of the balky P6-port Solar Array Wing. The rapidly planned EVA was successfully completed after a 6-hour 38-minute spacewalk. At the end of EVA #4, Curbeam ranked fifth in total EVA time for U.S. astronauts and 14th overall.

19 December (Flight day 11 – Undocking)

Flight day 11 began for the astronauts at approximately 14:47 UTC. The Expedition 14 and STS-116 crews posed for photos and then closed the hatches between the ISS and Discovery. Undocking was complete at 22:10 UTC. Due to the extended mission for EVA #4, Discovery did not make a full circle to film and photograph ISS, but only flew slightly more than one-quarter of the way around (through ISS zenith) before its departure burn.

20 December (Flight day 12)
Flight day 12 began for the astronauts at 12:48 UTC. They spent the day verifying the integrity of Discovery's heat shield and preparing for deorbit and landing on 22 December 2006 (Flight day 14). Because of the extended spaceflight, the shuttle was required to make a landing attempt on flight day 14 unless all three landing sites were "no-go." Two satellites were also launched: MEPSI (Microelectromechanical System-Based PICOSAT Inspector) resembles a pair of tethered coffee-cups, and is being tested as a reconnaissance option for disabled satellites; RAFT (Radar Fence Transponder) is a pair of 5" cubes built by the U.S. Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

which will test space radar systems and also act as data relays for mobile ground communications.

21 December (Flight day 13)
Flight day 13 began for the astronauts at 12:17 UTC. Discoverys crew launched the ANDE
Andé
Andé is a commune in the Eure department and Haute-Normandie region of France.-Population:-References:*...

(Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment) microsats for the Naval Research Laboratory, which were designed to measure the density and composition of the low Earth orbit atmosphere in order to help better predict the movements of objects in orbit, but one of the satellites failed to emerge from its launch canister. ANDE is currently transmitting data, and emerged from the canister approximately 30 minutes after its launch according to satellite tracking data.

22 December (Flight day 14 – Landing)

Flight day 14 began for the astronauts at 12:17 UTC. Preparations for landing were complete. High cross-winds precluded a landing at Edwards Air Force Base

Edwards Air Force Base

Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...

while clouds and showers were an issue at Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...

Shuttle Landing Facility on the first orbit. That combination raised the possibility of the first landing at White Sands Space Harbor

White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Missile Range is a rocket range of almost in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range...

since STS-3

STS-3

STS-3 was NASA's third Space Shuttle mission, and was the third mission for the Space Shuttle Columbia. It was the first shuttle launch with an unpainted external tank, and the only mission to land at the White Sands Space Harbor near Las Cruces, New Mexico.-Crew:-Backup crew:-Mission...

in 1982. Had landing taken place at White Sands, it could have taken as long as 60 days to return the orbiter to Kennedy Space Center. The first landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center was abandoned due to unfavorable weather conditions. However, at 21:00 UTC coordinates were sent to the shuttle to re-attempt a landing at Kennedy along runway 15, as the first contingency landing attempt at Edwards had been scrubbed due to high cross winds. The de-orbit burn for Kennedy occurred at 21:27 UTC, having been authorized at 21:23 UTC, and was finished at 21:31 UTC. Since the landing time coincided with the local sunset time 17:32 EST (22:32 UTC), the shuttle landing was not considered a night landing, as official rules for a night landing are sunset + 15 minutes; however the xenon

Xenon arc lamp

A xenon arc lamp is a specialized type of gas discharge lamp, an electric light that produces light by passing electricity through ionized xenon gas at high pressure to produce a bright white light that closely mimics natural sunlight...

runway lighting system was in use. Discovery touched down 30 seconds before the expected time. Landing time at Kennedy was at 17:32 EST (22:32 UTC).

The landing of Discovery also served a secondary purpose, having been used by NASA to mimic Santa Claus

Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

's sleigh in order to test the ability to operate NASA's Debris Imaging Radar System and Differential Global Positioning Satellite System ground station in auto-track mode for the benefit of Santa on Christmas eve.

STS-301

STS-3xx

Space Shuttle missions designated STS-3xx were rescue missions which would have been mounted to rescue the crew of a Space Shuttle if their vehicle was damaged and deemed unable to make a successful reentry...

was the designation given to the Contingency Shuttle Crew Support

STS-3xx

mission which would have been launched in the event Space Shuttle Atlantis

Space Shuttle Atlantis

The Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter in the Space Shuttle fleet belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration , the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States...

had become disabled during STS-115

STS-115

Note:The P3/P4 Truss segment and batteries were so heavy that the crew count was reduced from seven to six.-Crew notes:...

. It was a modified version of the STS-116 mission, which would have involved the launch date being brought forward. If needed, it would have launched no earlier than 11 November 2006. The crew for this mission was a four-person subset of the full STS-116 crew:

Mark Polansky
Mark L. Polansky
Mark Lewis "Roman" Polansky is an American aerospace engineer and research pilot and a NASA astronaut. Polansky received the nickname "Roman" as a joke, because he shares a last name with director Roman Polanski. He has flown on three Space Shuttle missions: STS-98, STS-116, and...

– Commander and prime Remote Manipulator System (RMS) operator
William Oefelein
William Oefelein
William Anthony "Bill" Oefelein is an American businessman and a former test pilot instructor, naval officer and NASA astronaut who, on his only spaceflight, piloted the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission....

– Pilot and backup RMS operator
Robert Curbeam
Robert Curbeam
Robert Lee Curbeam, Jr. is a former American astronaut, and Captain in the United States Navy.Curbeam graduated from Woodlawn High School, Baltimore County, Maryland in 1980...

– Mission specialist 1, Extravehicular 1
Nicholas Patrick
Nicholas Patrick
Nicholas James MacDonald Patrick, Ph.D., is a British-born engineer and a NASA astronaut. His flight on the 2006 Discovery STS-116 mission made him the fifth Briton to go into space....

– Mission specialist 2, Extravehicular 2

STS-317

In the event that Discovery

Space Shuttle Discovery

suffered irreparable damage but made it to Earth orbit during STS-116, the crew would have taken refuge at the ISS

International Space Station

and waited for a Contingency Shuttle Crew Support

STS-3xx

mission to launch. The mission would have been named STS-317

STS-3xx

and would have been flown by the Space Shuttle Atlantis

Space Shuttle Atlantis

no earlier than 21 February 2007. The crew for this rescue mission would have been a subset of the full STS-117

STS-117

- Crew Notes :The initial crew manifest before the Columbia accident was:Astronaut Mark Polansky was originally slated to pilot this mission, but was moved to STS-116, which he commanded...

crew.

Wake-up calls

A tradition for NASA spaceflights since the days of Gemini

Project Gemini

Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966....

, mission crews are played a special musical track at the start of each day in space. Each track is specially chosen, often by their family, and usually has special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

Day 2: "Here Comes the Sun
Here Comes the Sun
"Here Comes the Sun" is a song by George Harrison from The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road. It is regarded as one of the most popular Beatles songs. The song was written while Harrison was away from all of these troubles...

" by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

; played for Commander Mark Polansky. MP3 WAV
Day 3: "Beep Beep" by Louis Prima
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...

; played for Sunita Williams. MP3 WAV
Day 4: "Waterloo" by ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...

; played for Christer Fuglesang. MP3 WAV
Day 5: "Suavemente
Suavemente (song)
"Suavemente" is a song recorded and composed by Puerto Rican-American Elvis Crespo on his first solo album, Suavemente, which followed his departure from Grupo Manía. Released as the lead single, Suavemente reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks on May 16, 1998 and remained atop the chart...

" by Elvis Crespo
Elvis Crespo
Elvis Crespo , is a Puerto Rican-American Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-winning Merengue singer.-Early years:Crespo was born in New York City and was named "Elvis" after Elvis Presley...

; played for Joan Higginbotham. MP3 WAV
Day 6: "Under Pressure
Under Pressure
"Under Pressure" is a 1981 song recorded by Queen and David Bowie. It marked Bowie's first released collaboration with another recording artist as a performer, and is featured on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. The song reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also number 31 on VH1's 100 Greatest...

" by Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

& David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

; played for Robert Curbeam. MP3 WAV
Day 7: "Low Rider" by War
War (band)
War is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs "Low Rider", "Spill the Wine", "The Cisco Kid" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae...

; played for William Oefelein. MP3 WAV
Day 8: "Fanfare for the Common Man
Fanfare for the Common Man
Fanfare for the Common Man is a 20th-century American classical music work by American composer Aaron Copland. The piece was written in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under conductor Eugene Goossens. It was inspired in part by a famous speech made earlier in the same year where vice...

" by Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

performed by the London Philharmonic
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...

; played for Nicholas Patrick. MP3 WAV
Day 9: "Blue Danube Waltz" by Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...

performed by the Vienna Philharmonic
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
The Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra in Austria, regularly considered one of the finest in the world....

; played for Christer Fuglesang. MP3 WAV
Day 10: "Good Vibrations
Good Vibrations
"Good Vibrations" is a song by American rock band The Beach Boys. Composed and produced by Brian Wilson, the song's lyrics were written by Wilson and Mike Love....

"; by The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

played for the entire Discovery crew. Chosen as part of the EVA involved shaking the solar array. The track was used as a wake up call on STS-85
STS-85
STS-85 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission to perform multiple space science packages. It was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 7 August 1997.-Crew:-Crew notes:...

when a Microgravity Vibration Isolation Mount was being tested. Curbeam was a mission specialist on that flight. It was his first trip into space. MP3 WAV
Day 11: "Zamboni
Zamboni (song)
"Zamboni" is a song written by Martin Zellar and recorded by his band Gear Daddies. The song tells the story of a man's desire to drive an ice resurfacer, popularly known by the brand name "Zamboni", and his request to drive the Zamboni for his local ice hockey team...

" by Gear Daddies
Gear Daddies
The Gear Daddies are a band from Austin, Minnesota that enjoyed moderate success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its members were Randy Broughten , Nick Ciola , Billy Dankert , and Martin Zellar...

; played for Pilot William Oefelein. MP3 WAV
Day 12: "Say You'll Be Mine" by Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. His debut album earned him five Grammys. He is perhaps best known for his Top Ten hit songs, "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind", and "Arthur's Theme ", the last of which he performed for the film Arthur starring Dudley Moore...

; played for returning Expedition 14 crewmember Thomas Reiter. MP3 WAV
Day 13: "The Road Less Traveled" by Joe Sample
Joe Sample
Joseph Leslie "Joe" Sample is an American pianist, keyboard player and composer.He is one of the founding members of the Jazz Crusaders, the band which became simply The Crusaders in 1971, and remained a part of the group until its final album in 1991 .- Biography :Sample began playing the piano...

; played for Joan Higginbotham. MP3 WAV
Day 14: "Home for the Holidays
Home for the Holidays (song)
" Home for the Holidays" is a popular song, commonly associated with the Christmas season although the lyrics are more applicable to the Thanksgiving holidays....

" by Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...

; played for the entire Discovery crew. MP3 WAV

Mission parameters

Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...

: 1,647,000 lb (750 metric tons) at launch, 225,000 lb (102 metric tons) at landing [www.nasa.gov]
Perigee
Perigee
Perigee is the point at which an object makes its closest approach to the Earth.. Often the term is used in a broader sense to define the point in an orbit where the orbiting body is closest to the body it orbits. The opposite is the apogee, the farthest or highest point.The Greek prefix "peri"...

: TBD
Apogee: TBD
Inclination
Inclination
Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...

: 51.6°
Period
Orbital period
The orbital period is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars.There are several kinds of...

: 91.6 minutes

Extra-vehicular activity

	Mission	Spacewalkers	Start – UTC	End – UTC	Duration	Mission
73.	STS-116 EVA 1	Robert Curbeam Robert Curbeam Robert Lee Curbeam, Jr. is a former American astronaut, and Captain in the United States Navy.Curbeam graduated from Woodlawn High School, Baltimore County, Maryland in 1980... Christer Fuglesang Christer Fuglesang Dr. Arne Christer Fuglesang is a Swedish physicist and an ESA astronaut. He was first launched aboard the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission on December 10, 2006, at 01:47 GMT, making him the first Swedish citizen in space....	12 December 2006 20:31	13 December 2006 03:07	6 h 36 min	Install P5 truss
74.	STS-116 EVA 2	Robert Curbeam Robert Curbeam Robert Lee Curbeam, Jr. is a former American astronaut, and Captain in the United States Navy.Curbeam graduated from Woodlawn High School, Baltimore County, Maryland in 1980... Christer Fuglesang Christer Fuglesang Dr. Arne Christer Fuglesang is a Swedish physicist and an ESA astronaut. He was first launched aboard the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission on December 10, 2006, at 01:47 GMT, making him the first Swedish citizen in space....	14 December 2006 19:41	15 December 2006 00:41	5 h 00 min	Rewiring station electrical system (circuits 2/3)
75.	STS-116 EVA 3	Robert Curbeam Robert Curbeam Robert Lee Curbeam, Jr. is a former American astronaut, and Captain in the United States Navy.Curbeam graduated from Woodlawn High School, Baltimore County, Maryland in 1980... Sunita Williams Sunita Williams Sunita Williams is a United States Naval officer and a NASA astronaut. She was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and then joined Expedition 15...	16 December 2006 19:25	17 December 2006 02:57	7 h 31 min	Rewiring station electrical system (circuits 1/4)
76.	STS-116 EVA 4	Robert Curbeam Robert Curbeam Robert Lee Curbeam, Jr. is a former American astronaut, and Captain in the United States Navy.Curbeam graduated from Woodlawn High School, Baltimore County, Maryland in 1980... Christer Fuglesang Christer Fuglesang Dr. Arne Christer Fuglesang is a Swedish physicist and an ESA astronaut. He was first launched aboard the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission on December 10, 2006, at 01:47 GMT, making him the first Swedish citizen in space....	18 December 2006 19:00	19 December 2006 01:38	6 h 38 min	Retract port Solar Array Wing on P6 truss

External links

Mission Status Center – SpaceFlightNow: Up to the minute blog on the mission
STS-116 mission overview – NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

's website
Space Shuttle main page at NASA
STS-116 Official Flight Kit – the list of mementos carried aboard Discovery for presentation by NASA and the crew

Videos

STS-116 Launch Video: NASA VIDEO KSC-06-S-00251, captioned in English
NASA Videos for STS-116
STS-116 Video Highlights

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Crew notes

Mission highlights

Mission notes

Final Assembly Power Converter Unit mission for Discovery

Mission payloads

Mission background

7 December (Launch attempt 1)

9 December (Flight day 1 – Launch)

10 December (Flight day 2)

11 December (Flight day 3 – Docking to ISS)

12 December (Flight day 4 – EVA #1)

13 December (Flight day 5 – Solar Array Reorganization)

14 December (Flight day 6 – EVA #2)

15 December (Flight day 7)

16 December (Flight day 8 – EVA #3)

17 December (Flight day 9)

18 December (Flight day 10 – EVA #4)

19 December (Flight day 11 – Undocking)

20 December (Flight day 12)

21 December (Flight day 13)

22 December (Flight day 14 – Landing)

STS-301

STS-317

Wake-up calls

Mission parameters

Extra-vehicular activity

See also

External links

Videos