Next on the NASA Space Shuttle Status Report:
At the pad! Space Shuttle Discovery is at the launch pad and ready to
fly on mission STS-116 to the International Space Station.
And, practice makes perfect.
The STS-116 astronauts are at Kennedy Space Center to prepare for a December liftoff.
Plus, Waiting in the Wings! NASA confirms the dates for the first three shuttle missions in 2007.
NASA is flying again to continue constructing the station--and the NASA Space Shuttle Status Report starts right now!
Music.
I'm Angie Brewer, flow director for orbiter Atlantis, and this is the Space Shuttle Status Report.
We'll have more on new target dates for the 2007 space shuttle missions in a few moments.
But first, a December shuttle launch draws closer after Space Shuttle Discovery
rolled out to its seaside launch pad in the early morning of November ninth.
Trundling along at a careful one-mile-an-hour, the crawler transporter took nearly
eight-and-a-half hours to carry Discovery to Launch Pad 39B. The rollout to the pad follows time spent
inside the Vehicle Assembly Building attaching the orbiter to the solid rocket boosters and orange external fuel tank.
During the 12-day mission to the International Space Station,
the STS-116 crew will deliver a third truss segment and rewire the station's power system.
As part of their final flight preparations, the seven astronauts are now at Kennedy Space Center
for four days of important training known as TCDT.
An official date will be announced at the Flight Readiness Review later this month.
The launch date is targeted for December 7.
In other shuttle news, NASA announced target launch dates for 2007.
The first is mission STS-117 aboard orbiter Atlantis planned for no earlier than March 16.
Next up is orbiter Endeavour in June, followed by another Atlantis mission in September.
That's all the time we have for this week's Space Shuttle Status Report. For up-to-the minute mission news,
check out NASA TV and nasa.gov. For the NASA Space Shuttle Status Report,
I'm Angie Brewer. Thanks for watching!