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STS-116

Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103

United Space Alliance

Launch Status
Success

Crew


Mark L. Polansky

Mark L. Polansky

  • Birthday: 06/02/1956
  • Role: Commander
  • Nationality: American
  • First Flight: 02/07/2001
  • Last Flight: 07/15/2009

Mark Lewis “Roman” Polansky is an American aerospace engineer and research pilot and a former NASA astronaut. Polansky received the nickname “Roman” as a joke, because he shares a last name with director Roman Polanski. He flew on three Space Shuttle missions: STS-98, STS-116, and STS-127.

William Oefelein

William Oefelein

  • Birthday: 03/29/1965
  • Role: Pilot
  • Nationality: American
  • First Flight: 12/10/2006
  • Last Flight: 12/10/2006

William Anthony “Bill” Oefelein is an American test pilot instructor and former NASA astronaut who, on his only spaceflight, piloted the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission.

Oefelein gained media attention on February 5, 2007 when fellow astronaut Lisa Nowak was arrested in Florida and charged with attempting to kidnap his girlfriend, U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman. Nowak later pleaded guilty to felony burglary and misdemeanor battery. Oefelein admitted to a two-year affair with Nowak, and he and Nowak became the first astronauts ever dismissed from NASA. Following the dismissals, NASA created its first astronaut Code of Conduct.

Joan Higginbotham

Joan Higginbotham

  • Birthday: 08/03/1964
  • Role: Mission Specialist
  • Nationality: American
  • First Flight: 12/10/2006
  • Last Flight: 12/10/2006

Joan Elizabeth Higginbotham is an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. She flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-116 as a mission specialist.

Christer Fuglesang

Christer Fuglesang

  • Birthday: 03/18/1957
  • Role: Mission Specialist
  • Nationality: Swedish
  • First Flight: 12/10/2006
  • Last Flight: 08/29/2009

Arne Christer Fuglesang (born March 18, 1957 in Stockholm) 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.

Married with three children, he was a Fellow at CERN and taught mathematics at the Royal Institute of Technology before being selected to join the European Astronaut Corps in 1992. He has participated in two Space Shuttle missions and five spacewalks, and is the first person outside of the United States or Russian space programs to participate in more than three spacewalks.

Nicholas Patrick

Nicholas Patrick

  • Birthday: 11/19/1964
  • Role: Mission Specialist
  • Nationality: American
  • First Flight: 12/10/2006
  • Last Flight: 02/08/2010

Nicholas James MacDonald Patrick, Ph.D. is a British-American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. His flight on the 2006 Discovery STS-116 mission made him the fourth person born in the United Kingdom to go into space.

Sunita Williams

Sunita Williams

  • Birthday: 09/19/1965
  • Role: Mission Specialist
  • Nationality: American
  • First Flight: 12/10/2006
  • Last Flight: 07/15/2012

Sunita Pandya Lyn Williams is an American astronaut and United States Navy officer of Indo-Slovenian descent. She formerly held the records for total spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time for a woman (50 hours, 40 minutes). Williams was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and Expedition 15. In 2012, she served as a flight engineer on Expedition 32 and then commander of Expedition 33.

Robert Curbeam

Robert Curbeam

  • Birthday: 03/05/1962
  • Role: Mission Specialist
  • Nationality: American
  • First Flight: 08/07/1997
  • Last Flight: 12/10/2006

Robert Lee Curbeam, Jr. is a former NASA astronaut and captain in the United States Navy.

Curbeam graduated from Woodlawn High School, Baltimore County, Maryland in 1980. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 1984, a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1990, and a master’s degree in Astronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1991.

He is a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and the Association of Old Crows.

Curbeam was named Fighter Wing One Radar Intercept Officer of the Year in 1989 and received the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School Best Developmental Thesis (DT-II) Award.

He currently holds the record for the most spacewalks during a single spaceflight. During the STS-116 mission, Curbeam completed four spacewalks.

Mission


STS-116

  • Type: Human Exploration
  • Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
  • Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-116 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. Discovery lifted off on 9 December 2006 at 20:47:35 EST. A previous launch attempt on 7 December had been canceled due to cloud cover. It was the first night launch of a space shuttle since STS-113 in November 2002. The mission is also referred to as ISS-12A.1 by the ISS program. The main goals of the mission were delivery and attachment of the International Space Station’s P5 truss segment, a major rewiring of the station’s power system, and exchange of ISS Expedition 14 personnel.

STS-116

Location


Launch Complex 39B

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39B has witnessed the launch of 58 rockets, including 57 orbital launch attempts, while Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 231 rocket launches.

Launch Complex 39B

Rocket


National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

Space Shuttle

Agency


United Space Alliance

United Space Alliance (USA) is a spaceflight operations company. USA is a joint venture which was established in August 1995 as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), equally owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

United Space Alliance
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