| STS-116 Discovery has launched! |
[Dec. 9th, 2006|10:23 pm] |
On Saturday evening (December 9th) at 8:47 PM EST, Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-116) lifted off from Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center and became a flaming fireball of light as it ascended into space on its way to a date with the International Space Station (ISS).
The launch was the first night launch in just over four years and the third launch of a shuttle this year.
The crew of STS-116 is Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Bill Oefelein, and mission specialists Nicholas Patrick, Joan Higginbotham, Bob Curbeam, Sunita Williams and Christer Fuglesang, a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut.
Before going to bed, Discovery completed one of several burns that will help close the gap between the shuttle and the ISS over the day or two. Day 2 activities consist of checking out Discovery to make sure none of the Thermal Protection System was damaged during launch. |
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