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102-425: In 1976, NASA selected Northrup Strip as the site for shuttle pilot training. A second runway was added crossing the original north-south landing strip, and in 1979 both lakebed runways were lengthened to 35,000 ft (10,668 m), which includes 15,000 ft (4,572 m) usable runway with 10,000 ft (3048 m) extensions on either end, to allow White Sands Space Harbor to serve as shuttle backup landing facility. While

204-503: A Contingency Shuttle Crew Support mission to launch. The mission would have been named STS-317 and would have been flown by the Space Shuttle Atlantis no earlier than February 21, 2007. The crew for this rescue mission would have been a subset of the full STS-117 crew. A tradition for NASA spaceflights since the days of Gemini , mission crews are played a special musical track at the start of each day in space. Each track

306-489: A "team four" had been assembled, along with the operations and engineering teams, to assist in data analysis. The teams will look at options for repair if required, and make recommendations to the Mission Management Team after the analysis of tests and data. Shannon stated he had no doubt that if a repair was required, the crew could execute it without significant impact to the mission timeline. He reiterated that this

408-495: A break in the clouds, but as the scheduled launch time approached it became apparent that the cloud would not break, and the launch attempt was scrubbed, with the next attempt scheduled for December 9, 2006. Prior to the initial attempt on December 7, NASA had determined that they would not attempt a launch on Friday because of a cold front moving in that eventually scrubbed Thursday's launch attempt. Discovery lifted off successfully at 8:47 pm EST (01:47 UTC ), lighting up

510-551: A major factor limiting the duration of orbiter free flights. Other systems debuting on this flight were a three-string GPS system, which replaces the three Tactical Air Navigation -units, used to guide the shuttle and calculate its position during reentry and landing and the new Advanced Health Management System which keeps an eye on the three main engines (SSMEs) during liftoff and will shut them down before any catastrophic damage might develop. (All SSMEs had their own computers to regulate, monitor, and shut them down in case of trouble;

612-453: A new S-Band Baseband Signal Processor and Transponder on the P1 truss. During a routine glove inspection, Mastracchio noticed a possible tear on the thumb of his left glove. To be safe, NASA managers decided to end the spacewalk at 20:05, and examination and photography of the glove was performed during suit removal. The spacewalk accomplished all but one of the tasks (MISSE retrieval). On the station,

714-525: A night landing, as official rules for a night landing are sunset + 15 minutes; however, the xenon runway lighting system was in use. Discovery touched down 30 seconds before the expected time. Landing time at Kennedy was at 17:32 EST (22:32 UTC). STS-301 was the designation given to the Contingency Shuttle Crew Support mission which would have been launched in the event Space Shuttle Atlantis had become disabled during STS-115 . It

816-550: A period of maintenance. Its next mission would be STS-120 starting on October 23, 2007. Originally this mission was to carry the Expedition 8 crew to the ISS. The original crew was to be: As one of the main goals of STS-116 was to exchange ISS Expedition 14 crew members, the crew of STS-116 changed mid-flight. ISS Flight Engineer Sunita "Suni" Williams was part of the STS-116 crew for

918-519: A planned orbiter re-fit and maintenance period that resulted in over 200 modifications to the orbiter. One of the most important modifications that debuted during STS-118 is an upgraded power-distribution module, the Station-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS). SSPTS allows Endeavour to tap into the ISS power supply, converting up to eight kilowatts of electrical power from 120-volts direct-current (120VDC) ISS main voltage to

1020-634: A repair was necessary. Mission Specialists Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew participated in an education event in the morning with students at the Challenger Center for Space Science Education in Alexandria , Virginia . The event was hosted by Dr. June Scobee Rodgers, wife of Challenger' s commander, Dick Scobee , and Founding Chairman of the Challenger Center. Morgan and Drew also spoke to reporters from

1122-518: A simulated countdown, which took place on the morning of November 16, 2006. The astronauts then traveled to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and returned to Kennedy Space Center on December 3, 2006, four days before the planned launch date. The payloads for the mission, including a SPACEHAB module and the P5 truss, were loaded from the payload canister into Discovery's payload bay on November 16, and, with

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1224-460: A solar flare eruption. Flight day 5 began for the astronauts at 15:21 UTC. The most high-profile activity was the attempted retraction of the P6 port-side solar array . The process began at 18:28 UTC, but problems with the array folding due to 'kinks' and 'billows' led the controllers to redeploy the array (from about 40% retracted). There then followed a series of more than 40 commands to furl and unfurl

1326-463: A vertical orientation and moved into High Bay 3 to be mated with the external tank and solid rocket boosters . Rollout to Launch Complex 39B was completed on Thursday November 11. The crew for the mission arrived at Kennedy Space Center on November 13 to begin their final four-day prelaunch training for the mission, which included familiarization activities, rehearsal of emergency procedures and practice on NASA's Shuttle Training Aircraft, along with

1428-440: Is a fully trained astronaut who performs all the same duties that a regular astronaut does. Morgan became the first mission specialist educator in space on STS-118, and will share what she learned from the experience with students during and after her flight. Whether you're teaching school, or whether you're training as an astronaut, you put all you can into it, and get the most out of it. The mission marked: Endeavour (OV-105)

1530-572: Is carried inside the payload bay, has a capacity of 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg), and carried a variety of cargo and research projects, including supply materials for the ISS. It returned cargo, including the MISSE PEC 3 & 4, a Department of Defense payload that had been installed on the ISS. Launched in July 2006, the MISSE PEC-3 and 4 contained over 850 materials specimens that will be studied to determine

1632-477: Is less critical than the leading-edge reinforced carbon-carbon tiles that were damaged in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster , but did cause concern for the Mission Management Team. A focused inspection was scheduled for August 12, 2007, to determine whether a patch attempt would be undertaken by the astronauts during an EVA . NASA once reported that pieces of foam are bound to, and have fallen off of

1734-564: Is specially chosen, often by their family, and usually has special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration . STS-118 STS-118 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by

1836-588: The Nobel Prize winners, including scientist Dr. John C. Mather at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Mather was honored for his work on the big-bang theory. Christer Fuglesang also held a short speech in Swedish, encouraging Swedes and others to aspire to become future astronauts. The EVA concluded at 03:07 UTC on the morning of December 13, and lasted for 6 hours and 36 minutes in total. During

1938-550: The Remote Manipulator System , and performed a variety of other payload activation procedures, before entering their scheduled sleep shift at 04:36 UTC (12:36 am EDT) August 9, 2007. The shuttle crew spent most of the day inspecting the outer hull and the heat shield . During the mission status briefing, Deputy Shuttle Program Manager (and Mission Management Team chairman) John Shannon reported that during launch, approximately nine pieces of foam were observed breaking off

2040-545: The U.S. Naval Academy which will test space radar systems and also act as data relays for mobile ground communications. Flight day 13 began for the astronauts at 12:17 UTC. Discovery' s crew launched the ANDE (Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment) microsats for the Naval Research Laboratory , which were designed to measure the density and composition of the low Earth orbit atmosphere in order to help better predict

2142-562: The Z1 truss , where they removed the failed CMG. After installing the new CMG, they placed the failed CMG on an external stowage platform, where it will remain until it is returned to Earth with mission STS-122 . After initial testing on the ground, NASA reported the new CMG was functioning normally. During the EVA, Mastracchio reported an EVA suit alarm, indicating high levels of CO 2 , but after reviewing all indicators and sensors, NASA confirmed it

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2244-555: The Zarya module of the station had orbited the Earth 50,000 times. John Shannon reported that the orbiter systems were in excellent shape, and had no issues. With regards to the remaining area of tile damage on the underside of the orbiter, Shannon reported that initial thermal analysis had been completed. Computational fluid dynamics testing at Ames Research Center had been done, and the preliminary results were "cautiously optimistic". Testing at

2346-493: The external tank during the eight and a-half-minute ride to orbit . An unprecedented 300 pieces of foam once struck the underside of an orbiter during launch. The crew activated the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS) after docking. The SSPTS transfers electrical power from the station to the shuttle, allowing the shuttle to conserve its own power generating resources. An extension of

2448-535: The terminal countdown demonstration test on July 19, 2007, and the Flight Readiness Review meetings were held on July 25–26, 2007, after which NASA managers declared STS-118 a "GO" for launch. The launch was delayed one day to repair a valve in the shuttle's crew cabin pressurization system. Commander Kelly and the crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center on August 3, 2007, for final launch preparations. The countdown clock began at 20:00 EDT August 5, 2007, for

2550-556: The 'cleanest' post-flight orbiter since Return to Flight ". On August 31, 2007, NASA reported that the damaged tiles had been removed in the Orbiter Processing Facility , and engineers had found no evidence of heat-related damage to the orbiter itself. Astronaut Clayton Anderson was originally slated to be launched to the ISS on this mission, but was moved to STS-117 . His replacement was Alvin Drew . NASA press releases and media briefing documents stated that STS-118

2652-472: The 28VDC system used by the orbiter. SSPTS was outfitted to the ISS Pressurized Mating Adapter -2 (PMA2) during STS-116 . These upgrades will allow orbiters to remain docked at the station for an additional three to four mission days by saving cryogenic liquid hydrogen and oxygen needed to run the fuel cells which generate electricity aboard the orbiter; oxygen and hydrogen tank capacity is

2754-426: The EVA went well, the major objectives were completed, and he reiterated that at no time was Mastracchio's suit in any danger of leaking. EVA Office Manager Steve Doering reported on the details regarding the issue with Mastracchio's glove. The EVA inspection procedure was implemented following STS-116, when a cut was found on Robert Curbeam 's glove following an EVA. The EVA suit comprises five layers of material, and

2856-555: The External Stowage Platform installation went well; the new CMG was working well, and handover of attitude control directly from the shuttle to the station was completed without problems. In addition, a new Russian computer was installed on the station, and testing of the system would be performed in late August. He also mentioned several of the experiments that were launched with STS-118, and reported all experiments were proceeding well. Shireman also noted that as of 15:17 UTC,

2958-457: The Florida's coastline. Weather conditions – in particular crosswinds at the launch and landing sites – continued to trend positively in the hours approaching the launch window Saturday night. The fueling process for Discovery's external tanks began at 12:46 EST (17:46 UTC) and was completed at approximately 15:45 EST (20:45 UTC). If a transatlantic abort landing (TAL) had been required during ascent,

3060-496: The ISS and Discovery . Undocking was complete at 22:10 UTC. Due to the extended mission for EVA No. 4, Discovery did not make a full circle to film and photograph ISS, but only flew slightly more than one-quarter of the way around (through ISS zenith) before its departure burn. Flight day 12 began for the astronauts at 12:48 UTC. They spent the day verifying the integrity of Discovery 's heat shield and preparing for deorbit and landing on December 22, 2006 (Flight day 14). Because of

3162-449: The ISS's 120VDC main bus power. During initial station assembly missions, orbiter APCU power was used to augment the power available from the Russian service segment. With the operation of permanent main electrical systems (e.g. P4 array and SARJ, MBSUs, DDCUs, Ammonia cooling systems), orbiter power was no longer needed by the ISS. After STS-118 , Discovery and Endeavour drew power from

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3264-464: The ISS, although Atlantis was never upgraded with the SSPTS. This system slowed the orbiters' consumption of hydrogen and oxygen used by their onboard electricity-generating fuel cells. The hydrogen and oxygen supplies, stored cryogenically in tanks aboard the orbiter, limited the duration of Space Shuttle missions. As a result of the changeover to SSPTS, Discovery and Endeavour gained approximately 50% of

3366-583: The ISS: the ANDE technology demonstrator (OSCAR 61 and 62), developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, and three CubeSats ( RAFT-1 (OSCAR 60) and MARScom for the United States Naval Academy , and MEPSI 2A/2B for DARPA ). It was the first Shuttle mission to deploy satellites since STS-113 in 2002. with SPDU (Station Power Distribution Unit) 20 kilograms (44 lb) STS-116

3468-491: The International Space Station and Discovery was opened at 23:54 UTC. The joint ISS/Shuttle crew then worked to undertake some further detailed inspection of the orbiter and unloaded the P5 truss segment from the payload bay, handing it off successfully from the shuttle robotic arm to the station arm . The astronauts scheduled for Day 4's EVA , Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang, ended their day by entering

3570-551: The Operations & Checkout (O&C) building, for the launch pad at 14:46 EDT (18:46 UTC), and arrived at the pad at 15:02 EDT (19:02 UTC). Launch occurred at 18:36:42 EDT (22:36:42 UTC). Countdown and launch notes: The primary TAL site was Zaragoza Airport in Spain. Following the procedures for post-ascent, the crew opened the payload bay doors, activated the Spacehab, powered up

3672-516: The RPM, an area of interest was discovered on the underside of the Shuttle; an area behind the right landing gear door covered with black silica tiles. The tile directly aft of the door had a 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) by 2 inches (5.1 cm) gouge in it. While the tile was penetrated, the underlying felt backing was not. NASA noted in the press conference that launch-time video confirmed a foam strike. This area

3774-435: The SSPTS was working well, and the recommendation to the Mission Management Team will be to extend the mission to the planned 14-day mission. Mission Management Team chair John Shannon reported after additional analysis, it appeared that a piece of foam came off the external tank in the area of the tank's feed line, and bounced off a nearby strut, resulting in a hit to the orbiter's underside. An almost identical section of foam

3876-658: The Space Harbor was activated as a backup landing site for STS-116 due to poor weather conditions at both Edwards Air Force Base (high cross-winds) and Kennedy Space Center (clouds and rain), White Sands was only used for one landing of the Space Shuttle, that of the Space Shuttle Columbia on March 30, 1982, for STS-3 . Boeing 's Starliner Calypso returned from a 49-hour Orbital Test Flight at 12:57 UTC on December 22, 2019, on runway 17/35. This marked only

3978-475: The ability to provide the space station with additional supplies of oxygen, water, and other resources. Shannon reported on the focused inspection, confirming that good laser data and imagery was obtained, and they resolved several areas of interest, classifying them as of no concern. One area of interest was two adjacent thermal plates on the shuttle's underside that had a gouge that appeared to be deeper than would allow them to rule it out. NASA would use data from

4080-517: The activation of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) at 01:00 UTC, allowing the solar arrays on the P3/P4 truss to rotate to follow the sun. Flight day 6 began for the astronauts at 15:19 UTC. The day's primary activity, EVA No. 2, began rewiring work to bring the station's permanent electrical power systems into use. To allow this changeover, station controllers had to power down about half

4182-512: The addition of the P5 truss segment. The EVA began at 20:31 UTC, with Curbeam and Fuglesang removing launch restraints from the P5 truss and Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham making use of the station's robotic arm (the Canadarm2 ) to move the truss segment to within inches of its new position on the P4 truss. The spacewalkers then guided Higginbotham with visual cues as the precise operation to finalize

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4284-450: The afternoon. Primary payloads on the 13-day mission were the P5 integrated truss segment, SPACEHAB single logistics module, and an integrated cargo carrier. The STS-116 mission was the 20th Shuttle flight to the station. Launch on the new, earlier date required a night-time launch. Subsequent to the Columbia disaster , NASA had imposed rules requiring shuttle launches to be conducted during

4386-402: The airlock for a "campout" sleep session to prepare for the EVA by purging their bodies of nitrogen in a lower-pressure environment. Such a practice is common in order for the astronauts to avoid getting decompression sickness . Flight day 4 began for the astronauts at 15:47 UTC. During the first EVA of the mission, the astronauts of STS-116 brought the ISS one step closer to completion with

4488-596: The arc jet facility would continue Tuesday night. Shannon stated they would go through complete EVA scenario testing at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab , to help develop the EVA procedures if needed. Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson began the third EVA of the mission at 14:37 UTC. During the EVA, they successfully relocated a CETA Cart, retrieved the P6 Transponder, relocated the S-band antenna from P6 to P1, and installed

4590-454: The arm to manually grab the boom. During this time, the crew also inspected the upper surface of the orbiter. Astronauts also completed a check of the spacesuits to be used during the mission, along with preparation for docking with the International Space Station . Flight day 3 began for the astronauts at 15:18 UTC . Following the rendezvous pitch maneuver , docking to the International Space Station occurred at 22:12 UTC. The hatch between

4692-423: The arrays in an effort to get them properly aligned and folded. At 00:50 UTC, the retraction efforts were abandoned for the day. The problems, which appear to have been caused by a loss of tension in the solar array guide wires, had still not been solved, although 14 of the 31 bays on the array had been retracted (leaving 17 bays extended). This was enough to leave the port side arrays in a safe position to commence

4794-401: The astronauts at 15:47 UTC. The first order of business for the day was a thorough inspection of the Shuttle. Using sensors and cameras attached to a fifty-foot boom, which was in turn connected to a fifty-foot robotic arm, Nicholas Patrick inspected the leading edge of the wings and the nose cap. The process, which took five and a half hours, suffered a minor glitch that required Patrick to order

4896-444: The attachment of the truss was completed. After the P5's attachment, Curbeam and Fuglesang finalized the installation with power, data and heater cable connections. They also replaced a faulty video camera attached to the S1 truss . Since they worked ahead of the time-line, the two astronauts were also able to complete some get-ahead tasks. At the end of the spacewalk, Curbeam congratulated

4998-492: The crew manifest for STS-118 was: The STS-118 mission delivered and assembled the starboard S5 truss segment of the International Space Station, as well as External Stowage Platform 3 , (ESP-3) and a replacement Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG). The mission was also the final flight to include the Spacehab Logistics Single Module. The Spacehab Logistics Single Module, a pressurized aluminum habitat that

5100-490: The crew went through the new procedures which had been developed for attempting to enable the solar array retraction. Various tools were coated in kapton tape to protect the array from coming into direct contact with sharp metallic objects and to provide electrical insulation if they are used to manipulate the arrays during the EVA. Flight day 10 began for the astronauts at 14:17 UTC. Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang embarked on an added EVA at 17:12 UTC to try to fully close

5202-499: The crewmembers continued with transfer activities. During the Mission Management Team briefing, Joel Montalbano reported that the issue with Mastracchio's suit was never a danger to the suit integrity, and the decision to cut the EVA short was one of precaution. Extended photography was performed, and additional analysis will be completed prior to the fourth EVA. Montalbano reported that the fourth EVA would be no earlier than August 18, 2007. Lead spacewalk officer Paul Boehm agreed that

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5304-447: The crews. During this event Swedish first time astronaut Christer Fuglesang was interviewed by Crown Princess Victoria and also set a 20-second Frisbee world record in space, broadcast live on Swedish TV4 . In an attempt to free a stuck solar panel, Thomas Reiter exercised vigorously on a machine which is known to cause oscillations in the solar arrays; it was not successful. Mission controllers continued to look at other solutions to

5406-469: The day, when light would be sufficient for cameras to observe falling debris. With the redesign of shuttle tank foam having minimized the amount of falling debris and the availability of in-orbit inspection procedures, the daylight-launch requirement was relaxed. Rollover of Discovery to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) occurred on October 31, and on November 1 the orbiter was raised into

5508-428: The effects of long-term exposure to the environment of space. The mission was originally scheduled to be flown by Columbia ; STS-118 would have marked that orbiter's 29th flight and its first visit to the International Space Station. However, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster altered the planned flight schedules, and the mission was rescheduled for Endeavour . STS-118 served as Endeavour' s return to flight after

5610-461: The entire layer of the tile. Preliminary results were encouraging, but additional testing would be performed on Wednesday night. Shannon reported that the final decision would most likely be made on Thursday. Shannon said "I am cautiously optimistic that repairs will not be needed". The station and shuttle crews continued transfer activities on flight day 9, as well as EVA preparations, which included TPS repair procedure review, in case NASA decided

5712-406: The entry team CAPCOM for STS-107. Columbia had originally been selected for this flight, for what would have been its 29th mission, and its first and likely only visit to the ISS, mainly due to its heavier weight . The mission is also referred to as ISS-13A.1 by the ISS program. The mission added two more components to the ISS and brought supplies for its crew. During and after the mission,

5814-415: The extended spaceflight, the shuttle was required to make a landing attempt on flight day 14 unless all three landing sites were "no-go." Two satellites were also launched: MEPSI (Microelectromechanical System-Based PICOSAT Inspector) resembles a pair of tethered coffee-cups, and is being tested as a reconnaissance option for disabled satellites; RAFT (Radar Fence Transponder) is a pair of 5" cubes built by

5916-524: The external fuel tanks. Three of these struck the shuttle. All three strikes are considered to be minor in nature. Endeavour successfully docked with the International Space Station at 18:02 UTC (14:02 EDT). Approximately an hour before docking, Endeavour performed the one-degree-per-second backflip, called the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver (RPM), so the ISS crew members could take digital pictures of

6018-411: The first orbit. That combination raised the possibility of the first landing at White Sands Space Harbor since STS-3 in 1982. Had landing taken place at White Sands, it could have taken as long as 60 days to return the orbiter to Kennedy Space Center. The first landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center was abandoned due to unfavorable weather conditions. However, at 21:00 UTC coordinates were sent to

6120-628: The first portion of the mission. She then replaced ISS Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter on the Expedition 14 crew and Reiter joined the STS-116 crew for the return to Earth. During planned orbiter upgrades that took place subsequent to this mission, Discovery' s Assembly Power Converter Units (APCUs) were removed and replaced with the shuttle-side components of the Station-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS). The APCUs converted 28VDC orbiter main bus power to 124VDC, compatible with

6222-451: The first time. The EVA was completed in exactly 5 hours, finishing at 00:41 UTC. Flight day 7 was a light work day for the crews of Discovery and the ISS after the previous days' activities. Spacewalkers Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang enjoyed some R&R , while the rest of the crew performed cleanup and preparatory tasks for Flight day 8's planned EVA #3. The traditional joint photo session and joint news conference were held by

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6324-474: The foam loss as a "concern", but only with regards to the history that the specific area has with regards to foam loss in past missions. Shannon reported that analysis would be complete by flight day 7 at the latest. John Shannon also reported that the possible protruding gap filler noticed on flight day 3, was reviewed further, and was determined to be "shim stock", which will burn off in the upper atmosphere, and poses no issues for re-entry. The crew carried out

6426-411: The focused inspection to model the area, and do thermal analysis of the area. They will use the data to mimic the damage with sample tiles at Johnson Space Center , and using a variety of testing methods, possible courses of action would then be evaluated. No decision would be made until all data had been received and reviewed. Shannon did report that following STS-118, NASA will do a thorough review of

6528-402: The focused inspection without any problems, and at 20:56 (UTC), the crews of Endeavour and Expedition 15 were notified that the SSPTS was working as expected, and the mission was officially extended to the planned 14-day mission. Commander Scott Kelly replied, "That's great news, thanks". In the daily mission status briefing, Lead Flight Director Matt Abbott announced the official extension of

6630-483: The gouge, and not into the filler bar side, which was the preferable situation. He reiterated that it was a complicated aerodynamic shape, and they wanted to be sure the flow would concentrate in the back "well" of the hole. The engineers and analysts would continue to do additional flow modeling, after which they would take the data into the arc jet testing facility for additional analysis. The first preliminary arc jet tests would be performed Monday night. Shannon reported

6732-476: The heat shield of the orbiter. The images were then analyzed by NASA's Image Analysis Team, as well as the Mission Management Team to inspect the integrity of the orbiter's heat shield. Following a series of leak checks, the hatches were opened at 20:04 UTC (16:04 EDT), and the Expedition 15 crew welcomed the STS-118 crew aboard the station. After preliminary review of the photos taken by the Expedition 15 crew during

6834-445: The history of foam loss from the area of the external tank since STS-114 , analysis and testing would be done, and any speculation as to a future course of action would not be made until all the information was available. Rick Mastracchio and Dave Williams completed the mission's second spacewalk, successfully achieving all of the scheduled activities. During the EVA, they removed a new CMG from Endeavour' s payload bay, and moved it to

6936-409: The last eleven bays of the balky P6-port Solar Array Wing. The rapidly planned EVA was successfully completed after a 6-hour 38-minute spacewalk. At the end of EVA No. 4, Curbeam ranked fifth in total EVA time for U.S. astronauts and 14th overall. Flight day 11 began for the astronauts at approximately 14:47 UTC. The Expedition 14 and STS-116 crews posed for photos and then closed the hatches between

7038-431: The launch at 18:36 EDT on August 8, 2007. Fueling of the external tank began at 08:11 EDT (12:11 UTC) and finished around 11:00 EDT. The Ice Team began their inspection of the orbiter to ensure no ice was on the orbiter or the fuel tank, something unlikely due to the unusually warm conditions as launch time approached. Their inspection concluded about 40 minutes quicker than the usual two-hour duration. The crew departed for

7140-420: The media focused heavily on a small puncture in the heat shield , created by a piece of insulation foam that came off the external tank during liftoff, though the foam impact that ultimately destroyed Columbia caused more damage and was in a critical area. KSC Launch Director Michael D. Leinbach mentioned in the post-flight news conference that upon initial inspection on the ground, " Endeavour appears to be

7242-589: The mission from 11 to 14 days was dependent on proper operation of the SSPTS. At 21:45 (UTC), Rick Mastracchio and Dave Williams started the first EVA of the mission, installing the S5 truss to the station, increasing the total mass of the ISS to 232,693 kilograms (513,000 lb). The EVA duration was 6 hours and 17 minutes, and all objectives were successfully completed. During the Mission Status press conference, Lead ISS Flight Director Joel Montalbano reported that

7344-423: The mission, that the SSPTS was working as planned, and they were pleased with the data gathered during the focused inspection on Sunday. Mission Management Team Chairman John Shannon confirmed the decision of the Mission Management Team to extend the mission to 14 days, and to add a fourth EVA, was unanimous. He noted that the addition of SSPTS will be a valuable new tool, providing not only extended missions, but also

7446-505: The movements of objects in orbit, but one of the satellites failed to emerge from its launch canister. ANDE is currently transmitting data, and emerged from the canister approximately 30 minutes after its launch according to satellite tracking data. Flight day 14 began for the astronauts at 12:17 UTC. Preparations for landing were complete. High cross-winds precluded a landing at Edwards Air Force Base while clouds and showers were an issue at Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility on

7548-565: The new system extends and improves the monitoring capability for increased safety.) Endeavour also received several systems that the other orbiters had already been equipped with, such as a glass cockpit , improved wing leading-edge sensors and the OBSS. STS-118 included mission specialist Barbara Morgan , the first mission specialist educator. Morgan trained as the backup to Christa McAuliffe , NASA's Teacher in Space candidate from 1985 to 1986. McAuliffe

7650-584: The orbiter Endeavour . STS-118 lifted off on August 8, 2007, from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida and landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC on August 21, 2007. This was the first flight of Endeavour since STS-113 in November 2002, which was also the last successful shuttle flight before STS-107 which culminated in the loss of Columbia when it disintegrated during reentry . STS-118 pilot Charles Hobaugh had been

7752-492: The retraction of a sticking solar array, enabling the retraction of another six sections of the P6 array. At the end of the EVA there were another 11 "bays", or 35% left to retract. Upon completion of the EVA, the astronauts returned to the ISS via the Quest airlock. Another significant event during the EVA was the loss of 'Suni' Williams' digital camera . At the post-EVA press conference it

7854-534: The sealing of the payload bay doors, all that remained was to fill the external fuel tank before the Discovery shuttle stack was in full launch configuration. With the completion of the Flight Readiness Review over November 28–29 (which evaluated all activities and elements necessary for the safe and successful performance of the shuttle during the mission, including the Orbiter itself, the payload and flight crew), Discovery

7956-446: The second layer, called vectran , is a high strength material resistant to tearing. Mastracchio's tear was into the vectran layer. Prior to the next EVA, video analysis will be done of the path Mastracchio took during the spacewalk in an attempt to discover where the tear may have occurred. An analysis of Mastracchio's glove during the previous two EVAs will also be performed. John Shannon reported that no decision had been made regarding

8058-716: The second time an orbital vehicle has returned to Earth at White Sands. The McDonnell Douglas DC-X of the USAF Single Stage Rocket Technology (SSRT) program was launched 1993-96 at the harbor. 32°56′35.67″N 106°25′10.31″W  /  32.9432417°N 106.4195306°W  / 32.9432417; -106.4195306 STS-116 STS-116 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Discovery . Discovery lifted off on December 9, 2006 for her 33rd flight at 20:47:35 EST . A previous launch attempt on December 7 had been canceled due to cloud cover. It

8160-552: The shuttle had three possible landing sites: Zaragoza or Morón Air Base in Spain, or Istres , France. The launch was the third shuttle mission in five months, being preceded by STS-121 in July and STS-115 in September, and was the first night launch in four years since STS-113 and first night launch following the Columbia accident during STS-107 . It is also the last time a shuttle launched from LC-39B . Flight day 2 began for

8262-402: The shuttle to re-attempt a landing at Kennedy along runway 15, as the first contingency landing attempt at Edwards had been called off due to high crosswinds. The de-orbit burn for Kennedy occurred at 21:27 UTC, having been authorized at 21:23 UTC, and was finished at 21:31 UTC. Since the landing time coincided with the local sunset time 17:32 EST (22:32 UTC), the shuttle landing was not considered

8364-411: The solar panel folding problem so as to enable complete retraction, including an extended or additional EVA. Flight day 8 began for the astronauts at 14:48 UTC. Astronauts Bob Curbeam and 'Suni' Williams completed the rewiring work on the International Space Station . The EVA began at 19:25 UTC and proceeded normally. As an "add-on task" to the EVA, astronauts Curbeam and Williams also continued work on

8466-422: The spacewalk, after taking a close look at imagery gathered on the first three days of the flight, mission managers determined that the shuttle's heat shield would support a safe return to Earth. They also decided a more detailed inspection that had been scheduled for later in the mission would not be necessary. Three more spacewalks, one of which was unplanned, were required to reconfigure and redistribute power on

8568-577: The station, so that the solar arrays installed during STS-115 could be used. The first step of reconfiguring the power took place Wednesday when the port solar array on the P6 truss was retracted, which allowed the activation and rotation of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint on the P4. The rotary joint allows the solar arrays on the P4 to track the Sun. The astronauts were required to spend the night sleeping in protected areas in order to avoid radiation from

8670-453: The systems on the ISS. The EVA started at 19:41 UTC with Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang exiting the Quest airlock , 30 minutes early. EVA No. 2 was planned to activate channels 2 and 3 of the four-channel electrical system, and the work progressed smoothly. About two hours into the spacewalk the first current was flowing through the reconfigured system, using the power from the P4 solar arrays for

8772-416: The tile damage on the underside of the orbiter, but the fourth EVA was postponed to at least August 18, 2007. The management team would continue to analyze the potential risks of repair to the underside of the orbiter, as well as any other areas of risk. Shannon reported the results of the arc jet testing showed some erosion into the backside of the adjacent tile upon re-entry, but the erosion did not go through

8874-460: The time that would have been spent docked otherwise. This resulted in 2–4 extra days for each ISS-docked mission. The primary payload for the STS-116 mission was the P5 Truss segment of the International Space Station . The shuttle also carried a Spacehab Logistics Module to resupply the ISS, and an Integrated Cargo Carrier with four sub-satellites, which were deployed after undocking from

8976-651: The voices of Tracy Caldwell's family singing happy birthday to her. The two crews successfully removed the ESP-3 from Endeavour' s payload bay, and installed it onto the P3 truss. They also continued with transfer activities, and several crew members took time out to have two Public Affairs events, one of them answering children's questions from the Discovery Center in Boise, Idaho . During an interview with CBS, Commander Kelly stated that he

9078-547: Was not a catastrophic damage situation, but simply a situation that they would prefer to fix if possible, similar to the OMS blanket issue during STS-117 in June 2007. There are three different on-orbit repair techniques available to the crew. Both post- Columbia Return to Flight missions experimented with various repair materials and techniques, and the STS-118 crew has trained for those procedures. The Endeavour crew awoke on Tuesday to

9180-423: Was a modified version of the STS-116 mission, which would have involved the launch date being brought forward. If needed, it would have launched no earlier than November 11, 2006. The crew for this mission was a four-person subset of the full STS-116 crew: In the event that Discovery suffered irreparable damage but made it to Earth orbit during STS-116, the crew would have taken refuge at the ISS and waited for

9282-472: Was an instrumentation issue, and the suit itself was fine. At the mission status briefing, NASA reported the suit would be used on future spacewalks, and the issue was not of any concern. During the Mission Management briefing, John Shannon discussed Endeavour ' s heat shield and re-entry issues. He reported that after initial modeling they believe the majority of heating will be on the backside of

9384-441: Was given her Certificate of Flight Readiness, the launch date was officially set to December 7, 2006, and the mission officially given the "Go" for launch. Following the completion of the pre-launch preparations, all eyes were on the Florida skies, due to a forecast low cloud ceiling for the night of the launch. The mission's seven astronauts were loaded into Discovery ready for the scheduled launch at 21:37 EST, with hopes high for

9486-759: Was killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986. While McAuliffe and Morgan were classified as spaceflight participants and not as mission specialists in 1986, after the Teacher in Space Project was canceled, Morgan assumed the duties of Teacher in Space Designee and continued to work with NASA's Education Division until her selection as NASA's first mission specialist educator in 1998. Morgan completed two years of training and evaluation and began official duties in 2000. An Educator Astronaut

9588-527: Was lost on STS-115 , but did not strike the orbiter. John reported after further review of photos taken on flight day three, they do not feel the damage went all the way through the tile, but focused inspection is still planned for flight day five, and decisions would not be made until more information is obtained. Five specific areas will be inspected during focused inspection, and with the data gathered, thermal testing can be done to determine what actions, if any, need to be taken. Overall, John Shannon classified

9690-571: Was moved from the Orbiter Processing Facility, bay OPF-2 to the Vehicle Assembly Building on July 2, 2007. On July 10, 2007, Endeavour moved from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A. Moving at less than one mile per hour (1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi)/h) atop the crawler-transporter , the move began at 20:10 EDT, and was "hard down" (secured in place at the pad) at 03:02 EDT, July 11, 2007. The crew completed

9792-536: Was not concerned about the tile damage, and would be comfortable with any decision NASA made, "My understanding is this tile damage is not an issue of the safety of the crew... I'm not concerned with our safety." The main reason for fixing it, he noted, would be to assist with processing once the orbiter was back at the Kennedy Space Center. During the Mission Management Team briefing, Kirk Shireman, Deputy International Space Station Program Manager, reported that

9894-558: 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. After STS-116, Discovery entered

9996-448: Was planned (post return-to-flight ) to launch on December 14, 2006. But on November 29, 2006 NASA announced that the launch team had been asked to aim for a launch on December 7, 2006, rather than the original target date of December 14. The launch window for the STS-116 mission opened on December 7 and extended through December 17. The seven-member flight crew arrived for launch at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility on December 3, 2006, in

10098-564: Was suggested that a tether got snagged and caused the camera release button to break off allowing the camera to fall out of its holder. Images were lost but it was determined there was no need to retake them. Curbeam later said to the MCC: "We've got the bracket and the tether. Looks like the screws [on the bracket] came loose, we have the screws and the bracket and the tether." Flight day 9 was mainly spent preparing for EVA #4. The space suits were prepared (adjusting sizes and replacing LiOH canisters) and

10200-469: Was the backup to Christa McAuliffe , the teacher who was killed aboard Challenger in 1986. The tip of the flames touched Morgan's name on the patch. However, NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin clarified at a post-mission press conference that Morgan was not considered a mission specialist educator, but rather a standard mission specialist, who had once been a teacher. Prior to the Columbia disaster,

10302-483: Was the first flight of a Mission Specialist Educator due to the presence of Barbara Morgan . The Educator Astronaut Project is the successor to NASA 's Teacher in Space Project , which ended with the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. The official STS-118 mission patch included a flame of knowledge that represented the importance of education, and honored teachers and students everywhere. Morgan

10404-516: 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 December 22, 2006, at Kennedy Space Center 98 minutes off schedule due to unfavorable weather conditions. This mission

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