STS-116 Begins A 12-Day Mission Supporting The ISS

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 12.09.06 21:00 EST: With the light from a fire not seen in the Florida night since 2002, shuttle Discovery thundered aloft to begin a 12-day mission supporting the International Space Station.

Despite concerns -- and dire warnings of a one in three chance -- the weather cooperated, and provided an acceptable launch window.

The launch was on time and orbital insertion was nominal. (Below is a photo of the main tank separation following what appeared to be a picture-perfect launch.)

If the rest of the mission goes as well as the launch, the crew will deliver another large truss section of the ISS, conduct several space walks installing it, and assist the ISS crew with a rewiring job to convert the station from battery power to using electricity generated by the station's solar arrays. The crew is due to return to Kennedy Space Center on December 21.

ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter will return with the shuttle crew after a six-month stint aboard the ISS.

Flight Engineer Sunita Williams will remain with the crew of Expedition 14 on the ISS.

ANN salutes the men and women of NASA for a successful launch of the shuttle Discovery!

Previous Reports

13:30 EST: NASA is moving ahead with launch preparations. The launch team has begun filling the shuttle's external tank with fuel.

Forecasts for the evening have improved slightly, but NASA still says the weather will be the final determinant.

NASA has a set of very specific launch weather criteria regarding wind speeds, clouds, temperature and precipitation. For tonight's launch the problem appears to be the possibility of clouds and precipitation.

Current forecasts call for a 5000 foot ceiling with a 30% chance of showers.

The other weather issue is winds at the shuttle's emergency landing site. The current forecast has those winds across the runway. NASA says if the crosswinds exceed limits it will scrub the launch.

NASA is likely to be very careful about all launch and emergency criteria for tonight's scheduled 20:47 EST launch. This is the first night launch in four years for the space agency, and engineers will want everything to be nominal before giving the go ahead.

ANN will post more information as it becomes available; keep checking back!

11:00 EST: NASA managers completed their meeting this morning deciding to continue with tonight's second attempt to launch Discovery.

Media reports say technicians are behind schedule on several housekeeping chores in preparation for the launch, but will attempt to get caught up in time to begin fueling the shuttle's external tank by 12:30.

A NASA spokesman says if technicians are unable to begin the fueling procedure by then, the agency will have to stand down on tonight's launch attempt.

Check back with ANN for the latest...

10:30 EST: ANN has learned NASA managers have postponed a decision to postpone tonight's launch... got that?

Previous reports that tonight's mission had been scrubbed were apparently a little premature.

Stand by... we'll keep you posted!

10:00 EST: Citing continuing concerns with poor weather conditions at Cape Canaveral, CNN is reporting NASA managers decided to scrub tonight's second launch attempt for the shuttle Discovery.

ANN will post more details as they become available.

09:00 EST: NASA managers are meeting this morning to discuss the agency's options should weather scuttle tonight's scheduled 20:47 EST second launch attempt.

Engineers are giving the launch a one in three chance of success -- forecasters are predicting high winds, low clouds and showers at Cape Canaveral this evening.

Technicians delayed by six hours the removal of a protective scaffolding around the shuttle. Despite the dismal forecast, however, the decision was made to fuel the shuttle's power cells today.

The next step should managers give the go-ahead would be to fuel the external tank.

Forecasters are expecting a slight break in the weather Sunday and Monday with Tuesday showing the greatest promise.

Officials estimate each mission scrub costs the agency in the neighborhood of $500,000.

NASA wants to get Discovery in space before December 17 to avoid having to reprogram its flight computer for the year change. If the agency can't successfully launch before December 26 the next available launch window will come mid-January.

Keep checking back here at ANN for the latest launch information from NASA.

FMI: www.nasa.gov