WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome! I'm Jim Kennedy, director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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Space Shuttle Discovery, commanded by Mark Polansky,

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is ready to take the next step in constructing the International Space Station.

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Mission STS-116 will be one of the most complex and difficult missions for our astronauts.

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The delivery of another truss segment and a SPACEHAB element to the space station is just the beginning.

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Two spacewalks are planned for this mission.

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During the first space excursion, the astronauts will fold up part of a solar

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panel that's been in place for nearly six years, making room for the new solar arrays to rotate.

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Major rewiring of the system will supply the station with a permanent

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power-generating source from the P3/P4 truss, which was installed by the STS-115 crew.

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Discovery's flight will also take astronaut Sunita Williams to the

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station to remain there as part of the Expedition 14 crew.

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If you have questions about the mission, the "Ask the Mission Team" Question Board is the place to post them.

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They'll be answered by our panel of NASA experts.

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We appreciate your interest in NASA's Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs, and thank you for your participation in this mission.

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