NASA administrators unanimously decided to recommend a night launch of Discovery on December 7
NASA administrators unanimously decided to launch the space shuttle Discovery for mission STS-116 on December 7. Mission Commander Mark Polanski and the other six crew members are scheduled to take off this Thursday at 21:35 p.m. local time (04:25 a.m. Israel time on Friday morning), for the mission of continuing the construction of the International Space Station.
During their mission, the astronauts will perform three spacewalks and install a new component to the corridor that constitutes the spacecraft's corridor, as well as activate the station's permanent power and cooling system.
The launch date is set after a traditional meeting known as the Flight Readiness Review. During the two-day meeting, senior NASA managers and engineers assessed the risks involved in carrying out the mission and determined whether the shuttle equipment, support systems and processes were ready for launch.
"I was amazed by the complexity of the mission and how it will promote the continuation of the station," said NASA Assistant Administrator for Manned Space Missions Bill Gerstenmeier, who sat at the head of the yeshiva. "We have had successful discussions on many issues, and our teams are working hard to ensure we have all the data we need to set the launch date this Thursday.
