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crew_members = 7 |
crew_members = 7 |
launch_pad = [[Launch complex 39|39-B]] |
launch_pad = [[Launch complex 39|39-B]] |
launch = [[December 9]], 2006 8:47 p.m. [[North American Eastern Time Zone|EST]]|
launch = [[December 9]], 2006 8:47 p.m. [[North American Eastern Time Zone|EST]]<br>[[December 10]], 2006 1:47 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]] |
landing = NET [[December 19]], [[2006]] 4:36 p.m. [[North American Eastern Time Zone|EST]]<br>(21:36 [[UTC]])|
landing = NET [[December 19]], [[2006]] 4:36 p.m. [[North American Eastern Time Zone|EST]]<br>(21:36 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]])|
duration = 12 Days|
duration = 12 Days|
altitude = 122 nautical miles (225 km) |
altitude = 122 nautical miles (225 km) |

Revision as of 13:53, 8 December 2006

STS-116
COSPAR ID2006-055A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.29647Edit this on Wikidata
Crew
Members7
End of mission
File:STS-116 patch.png
A computer rendering of the ISS after STS-116 with the new P5 truss segment

STS-116 is the next Space Shuttle mission. It was scheduled for December 7, 2006, but it was scrubbed due to weather. The date of the next try will be Saturday, 9th December 2006 at 8:47pm EST. It will be the first night launch of a Space Shuttle orbiter since its return to flight. The main goals of the mission are to deliver and attach the International Space Station's (ISS) third port truss segment, the P5 truss, to carry out a major rewiring of the station's power system, and to exchange ISS Expedition 14 personnel. The vehicle used for this mission will be the Space Shuttle Discovery.

STS-116 is the final scheduled Shuttle flight to be conducted from Pad 39-B, the only remaining use of the pad by the Shuttle program being the potential Launch on Need (LON) mission associated with STS-125 contingency.

Crew

As one of the main goals of STS-116 is to exchange ISS Expedition 14 crew members, the crew of STS-116 will change mid-flight. ISS Flight Engineer Sunita Williams will be part of the STS-116 crew for the first portion of the mission. She will then replace ISS Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter on the Expedition 14 crew and Reiter will join the STS-116 crew for the return to Earth.

Launching ISS Expedition 14 Crew:

Landing ISS Expedition 14 Crew:

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

Mission highlights

Mission payloads

The primary payload for the STS-116 mission is the P5 Truss segment of the International Space Station. The shuttle will also carry a Spacehab module to resupply the ISS, as well as four satellites, which will be deployed in the course of the mission. These are the ANDE technology demonstrator developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, and three cubesats (RAFT1 and MarsCOM for the United States Naval Academy, and Mepsi-2 for DARPA.) It will be the first mission to deploy satellites since STS-113 in 2002.

Mission background

STS-116 was planned (post return-to-flight) to launch on December 14, 2006. But on November 29 NASA announced that the launch team had been asked to aim for a launch on Dec. 7 rather than the original target date of Dec. 14. The launch window for the STS-116 mission opened on Dec. 7 and extends through Dec. 17. The seven-member flight crew arrived for launch at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility on Dec. 3 in the afternoon [3]. Primary payloads on the 12-day mission are the P5 integrated truss segment, SPACEHAB single logistics module and an integrated cargo carrier. The STS-116 mission will be the 20th flight to the station. Launch on the new, earlier date would have required a night-time launch. Subsequent to the Columbia disaster, 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.[4]

File:STS-116 Rollout.jpg
Discovery on its way to Launchpad 39B during rollout.

Rollover of Discovery to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) occurred on October 31, and on November 1 the orbiter was raised into a vertical orientation and moved into High Bay 3 to be mated with the external tank and solid rocket boosters. Rollout to Launch Complex 39B was completed on Thursday, November 9.

If Discovery doesn't launch by December 18, NASA may be forced to delay the launch until the beginning of 2007, as a launch after this date would force the shuttle to be in orbit through the beginning of the new year. The reason for possible delay is that the shuttle's computers were not built to recognize the beginning of a new year, so the computer would consider January 1, 2007 to be the 366th day of 2006. NASA considered adding December 6 to the launch window to provide some security, but this plan was not put into effect. [5]

December 7: 1st Launch Attempt (Scrubbed)

The seven-member crew for the mission arrived at Kennedy Space Center on the November 13 to begin their final four-day prelaunch training for the mission, which included familiarisation activities, rehearsal of emergency procedures and practise on NASA's Shuttle Training Aircraft, along with a simulated countdown, which took place on the morning of November 16. The astronauts then traveled to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and returned to Kennedy Space Center on December 3, four days before the planned launch date.

Discovery's payload bay, containing the SPACEHAB module and ISS P5 Truss.

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 remains is to fill the external fuel tank before the Discovery shuttle stack is in full launch configuration. With the completion of the Flight Readiness Review over November 28-29 (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 December 7, and the mission officially given the "Go" for launch. However, at 9:36 PM EST, the shuttle launch was scrubbed due to violations concerning the cloud thickness and ceiling, and NASA is now determining a new launch date.[6]

December 9: 2nd Launch Attempt

NASA has announced that there will be a new launch attempt at 8:47 EST [7]. They have declared that there will be no launch Friday because of the cold front moving in that scrubbed Thursday's launch. No-go possibilities for Saturday include crosswinds and lower cloud ceiling.

Contingency planning

Main article: STS-3xx

STS-301

STS-301 was the designation given to the Contingency Shuttle Crew Support mission which would have been launched in the event Space Shuttle Atlantis had become disabled during STS-115. 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 November 11, 2006. The crew for this mission was a four-person subset of the full STS-116 crew:

STS-317

In the event the Discovery suffers irreparable damage while in orbit during STS-116, the crew will take refuge at the ISS and wait for a Contingency Shuttle Crew Support mission to launch. The mission would be STS-317 and would be flown by the Space Shuttle Atlantis no earlier than February 21, 2007. The crew for this rescue mission would be a subset of the full STS-117 crew.

Mission parameters

References

  1. ^ eriolastrada. "Re: STS-116/12A.1 Status (bbs posting)".
  2. ^ shuttle_guy. "Re: STS-116/12A.1 Status (bbs posting)".
  3. ^ "Discovery astronauts arrive at the Cape for launch". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved December 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "NASA hopes to launch next shuttle a week early". Yahoo! NEWS. Retrieved September 30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Computer glitch limits next space shuttle launch". Yahoo! NEWS. Retrieved November 6. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "NASA hoping clouds will part for Discovery". Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  7. ^ {{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to STS-116.
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