dhdxx 2006-12-23 12:58 AM
STS-116 Crew Home for the Holidays
Space Shuttle Discovery touched down on Kennedy Space Center's Runway 15 at 5:32 p.m. EST on Dec. 22, wrapping up a resoundingly successful mission to rewire the International Space Station and retract a stubborn solar array.
"It's a little bit windy and a little bit rainy. And we just want to go ahead and thank everybody for helping get us back to Kennedy Space Center. Discovery is a beautiful vehicle," said Commander Mark Polansky before the crew departed the Shuttle Landing Facility. "This mission is really a demonstration of how well we can work as a team at NASA when the ground folks, and the contractors, the crew, the flight directors, the control teams when everybody works together toward a common goal."
NASA officials also expressed their satisfaction with the mission's outcome during a post-landing news conference.
"On behalf of the crew at the Kennedy Space Center, Christmas came three days early for us," agreed Launch Director Mike Leinbach. "It is great to have Discovery out on our runway. The team is just jubiliant."
Before setting foot on the runway, each crew member underwent a brief medical exam inside the Crew Hatch Access Vehicle. After receiving an OK by doctors, Commander Mark Polansky and his team were greeted by NASA officials, including Administrator Michael Griffin, before taking a walk around Discovery to inspect the spacecraft.
Discovery launched on Dec. 9 and arrived at the station on the 11th. The crew installed the P5 spacer truss segment during the first of four spacewalks. Spacewalkers rewired the station’s power system during the second and third spacewalks, leaving it in a permanent setup. A fourth spacewalk was added to allow the crew to retract solar arrays that had folded improperly.
Discovery also delivered a new crew member and more than two tons of equipment and supplies to the station, most of which were located in the SPACEHAB cargo module. Almost two tons of items no longer needed on the station returned to Earth with Discovery.
The crew spent almost 13 days in space and traveled 5.3 milion statute miles. The mission was the 117th space shuttle flight and 33rd by Discovery. STS-116 also was the 20th shuttle mission to visit the space station.
STS-117 is scheduled to launch no earlier than March.
For the latest news and information on the International Space Station and the Expedition 14 crew, please visit the main station page. + Read more
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STS-116 Mission
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