Browse All : Space Shuttle Orbiter of Washington, D.C. and Atlantic Ocean from 2006

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space Shuttle Discovery reaches Launch Pad 39B for launch of mission STS-116. On the left can be seen the White Room at the end of the orbiter access arm. On the horizon is the Atlantic Ocean. The shuttle was harddown on the pad at 9:03 a.m. The rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building began at 12:29 a.m. The mission is No. 20 to the International Space Station and construction flight 12A.1. The mission payload is the SPACEHAB module, the P5 integrated truss structure and other key components. The launch window for mission STS-116 opens Dec. 7. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller
Release Date 11/09/2006
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space Shuttle Discovery reaches Launch Pad 39B for launch of mission STS-116. On the left can be seen the White Room at the end of the orbiter access arm. On the horizon is the Atlantic Ocean. The shuttle was harddown on the pad at 9:03 a.m. The rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building began at 12:29 a.m. The mission is No. 20 to the International Space Station and construction flight 12A.1. The mission payload is the SPACEHAB module, the P5 integrated truss structure and other key components. The launch window for mission STS-116 opens Dec. 7. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller
Release Date 11/09/2006
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space Shuttle Discovery and the mobile launcher platform sit on Launch Pad 39B for mission STS-116. Beyond the pad is the Atlantic Ocean. The shuttle's external tank is capped by the oxygen vent hood (at top). Below it is the orbiter access arm which swings out from the fixed service structure to the orbiter crew compartment hatch to allow personnel to enter the crew compartment. The outer end of the access arm ends in an environmental chamber (white room) that mates with the orbiter and holds six persons. The arm remains in the extended position until seven minutes 24 seconds before launch to provide emergency egress for the flight crew. The rollout of Discovery from the Vehicle Assembly Building began at 12:29 a.m. The shuttle was harddown on the pad at 9:03 a.m. The mission is No. 20 to the International Space Station and construction flight 12A.1. The mission payload is the SPACEHAB module, the P5 integrated truss structure and other key components. The launch window for mission STS-116 opens Dec. 7. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
Release Date 11/09/2006
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space Shuttle Discovery and the mobile launcher platform sit on Launch Pad 39B for mission STS-116. Beyond the pad is the Atlantic Ocean. The shuttle's external tank is capped by the oxygen vent hood (at top). Below it is the orbiter access arm which swings out from the fixed service structure to the orbiter crew compartment hatch to allow personnel to enter the crew compartment. The outer end of the access arm ends in an environmental chamber (white room) that mates with the orbiter and holds six persons. The arm remains in the extended position until seven minutes 24 seconds before launch to provide emergency egress for the flight crew. The rollout of Discovery from the Vehicle Assembly Building began at 12:29 a.m. The shuttle was harddown on the pad at 9:03 a.m. The mission is No. 20 to the International Space Station and construction flight 12A.1. The mission payload is the SPACEHAB module, the P5 integrated truss structure and other key components. The launch window for mission STS-116 opens Dec. 7. Photo credit: NASA/George Shelton
Release Date 11/09/2006
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Floating in the Atlantic Ocean about 150 miles north east of Cape Canaveral are the right and left solid rocket boosters, which were jettisoned from the Space Shuttle Discovery two and a half minutes into the ascent to orbit on Dec. 9. Though the boosters landed in the ocean miles from each other, overnight wind and ocean currents allowed the left booster, which was floating higher in the water, to migrate to the location of the right booster. The SRB retrieval team monitored the boosters through the night, and confirmed that the boosters did not contact each other. Both boosters were towed back to Hangar AF at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where the refurbishment operations are now underway. Discovery lifted off from KSC's Launch Pad 39B at 8:47 p.m. EST on mission STS-116. For more information about the process of retrieval, go to http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/nasafact/pdf/SRBships06.pdf and http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/recovery_ships.html. This was the second launch attempt for mission STS-116. The first launch attempt on Dec. 7 was postponed due a low cloud ceiling over Kennedy Space Center. This is Discovery's 33rd mission and the first night launch since 2002. The 20th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-116 carries another truss segment, P5. It will serve as a spacer, mated to the P4 truss that was attached in September. After installing the P5, the crew will reconfigure and redistribute the power generated by two pairs of U.S. solar arrays. Landing is expected Dec. 21 at KSC.
Release Date 12/10/2006
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