Aiming For Launch In Early December

In advance of a planned December 7 launch of the space shuttle Discovery, NASA technicians are wrapping up work inside Kennedy Space Center's Orbiter Processing Facility in preparation for rollover of the orbiter to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Wednesday, November 1.

Once inside the massive building, Discovery will be mated to the external tank and solid rocket boosters. Rollout of the entire shuttle assembly to the seaside launch pad is scheduled for November 8.

As Aero-News reported, NASA hopes to launch Discovery one week sooner than originally planned, in order to get the shuttle back to Earth before the Christmas holiday. If the shuttle launches on December 7, it will do so at 9:38 pm EST -- the first night launch of a shuttle since the 2003 loss of Columbia.

During the STS-116 mission, Discovery will deliver the P5 integrated truss structure to the International Space Station, continuing the assembly of the orbiting outpost. Scheduled to launch aboard Discovery are astronauts William A. Oefelein, pilot; Mark L. Polansky, commander; and mission specialists Robert L. Curbeam, Joan E. Higginbotham, Nicholas J.M. Patrick, Sunita L. Williams and the European Space Agency's Christer Fuglesang.

Williams will join Expedition 14 in progress to serve as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station, relieving ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter.

NASA also reports the STS-116 crewmembers recently visited Kennedy for the crew equipment interface test. The test is a routine part of astronaut training and launch preparations, and allows astronauts to get hands-on experience with the equipment and flight hardware they'll use during the mission.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/shuttle