[sarex] Two Days Until Launch, Preparations Continue

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
>
>    LAUNCH COVERAGE
>            Space Shuttle Mission STS-116
>
> Orbiter: Discovery
> Mission: Space Station Assembly Building 12A.1
> Payload: P5 Integrated Truss Segment
> Launch Date: Dec. 7, 2006
> Launch Time: 9:35 p.m. EST
> Launch Pad: 39B
> Landing Date: Dec. 19, 2006
> Landing Time: 4:35 p.m. EST
> Mission Duration: 12 days
>
> Two Days Until Launch, Preparations Continue
>
> The STS-116 crew members pose for a photo at the Shuttle Landing 
> Facility. Image above: The seven STS-116 crew members pose for a photo 
> after arriving at Kennedy Space Center. From left are Mission 
> Specialist Joan Higginbotham; Pilot Bill Oefelein; Mission Specialists 
> Robert Curbeam, Christer Fuglesang and Nicholas Patrick; ISS 
> Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams; and Commander Mark 
> Polansky. Credit: NASA/KSC
> + View Larger Image(WEB 
> SITE:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/index.html)
>
> Monday at 11 p.m. EST, NASA's countdown clock blinked to life at the 
> T-43 hour mark and began ticking down toward the liftoff of Space 
> Shuttle Discovery on a complex and challenging mission to the 
> International Space Station.
>
> Led by Commander Mark Polansky, the seven crew members arrived at 
> Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday afternoon. Polansky and 
> Pilot Bill Oefelein spent part of Monday evening flying the Shuttle 
> Training Aircraft (STA) and checking the fit of their orange launch 
> and entry suits. They'll complete another STA flight tonight while 
> Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam, Joan Higginbotham, Nicholas 
> Patrick, Christer Fuglesang and Sunita Williams try on their suits.
>
> Liftoff is targeted for 9:35 p.m. Thursday -- the midpoint of a 
> 10-minute launch window.
>
> The Launch Team
> Learn more about the NASA team that's responsible for the events that 
> lead up to the liftoff of mission STS-116.
> + Meet the Launch Team
>
>