Discovery STS- 116 Crew prepares for Thursday Launch

Seven astronauts arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last Sunday. They will be undergoing more training for the scheduled December 7 launch of the Discovery Space Shuttle STS- 116.

Considered to be the 20th flight to the $100 billion International Space Station, the 12-day mission involves delicate re-wiring that will enable the station to shift to a more stable source of electricity. Last September, two new electricity-generating solar array panels were put in place so that the space shuttle will no longer run on a temporary electrical system.

The member of the Discovery STS-116 Crew include Commander Mark L. Polansky, pilot William A. Oefelein, mission specialists Joan E. Higginbotham, Robert L. Curbeam, Nicholas J.M. Patrick, Sunita L. Williams and the European Space Agency's Christer Fuglesang.

Sunita Williams is scheduled to be dropped off at the space station for a 6-months stay replacing German astronaut Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency, who has been there since July.

Prior to the Thursday launch, Polansky and Oefelein will spend the next several days practicing landings in a shuttle-training aircraft. The other crew members will review their spacewalk tasks.

The December 7 launch will be the fist night launch in 4 years ever since the Columbia accident where seven astronauts were killed. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) previously required daylight liftoffs for them to see the debris that falls off from the shuttle fuel tanks during a launch which caused the 2003 accident.

Using hi-tech radars to see the debris well during the night, NASA is confident that all will go well.

NASA, which was established in 1958, devotes itself to the improvement of aeronautics, exploration systems and space operations. With a primary goal of completing the International Space Station by 2010, the agency has been constantly recognized for their many achievements and breakthroughs.