STS-116

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. The shuttle landed at 17:32 EST on 22 December 2006 at Kennedy Space Center 98 minutes off schedule due to unfavorable weather conditions. This mission was particularly notable to Sweden, being the first spaceflight of a Scandinavian astronaut (Christer Fuglesang).

STS-116 was the final scheduled space shuttle launch from Pad 39B as NASA reconfigured it for Ares I launches. The only remaining use of Pad 39B by the shuttle was as a reserve for the STS-400 Launch On Need mission to rescue the crew of STS-125, the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, if their shuttle became damaged.

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Indian American Astronaut Sunita Williams

News India Times 19 Mar 2025
Williams launched with the crew of STS-116 on December 9, 2006, docking with the International Space Station on December 11, 2006.
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