ESA TV will provide coverage of the STS-116 mission, as follows:
11 December 2006 21:45 - 22:15 GMT LIVE: Shuttle Discovery Docks with the ISS - the docking is scheduled for 22:05 GMT
12 December 2006 00:00 - 00:25 GMT
LIVE: Discovery Crew Enters the ISS - the entry of the Crew of Shuttle Discovery into the ISS is scheduled for 00:02 GMT
12 December 2006 08:00 - 08:30 GMT
Flight Day 3 Highlights of Mission STS-116 12 December 2006 20:30 - 22:30 GMT
LIVE: Christer Fuglesang EVA#1 - a rebroadcast of NASA-TV until the P5 truss has been installed. A summary of the entire six-hour EVA will be broadcast on 13 December at 04:30-04:45 GMT. Details will be provided in another mailing.
The Flight Day 3 Highlights will also be made available as an Mpeg-2 file in broadcast quality, on an ftp server with the following details:
URL: ftp://ftp.unit.net Userid: esa Password: ftp4esa
Space shuttle Discovery is to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) after an inspection showed no visible damage on lift-off. Astronauts used the shuttle's robotic arm and its cameras to check Discovery's heat shield and upper surfaces after reaching Earth orbit. The US orbiter is due to link-up with the ISS at 1705 EST (2205 GMT).
Space Shuttle Discovery successfully launched from Cape Canaveral at 8:47 p.m. EDT Dec. 9 and is on its way to the International Space Station.
Mission STS-116 carries a crew of seven, three of them Sailors, and is Discovery's 33rd mission. The shuttle and its crew will deliver another truss segment to add to the growing space station and the astronauts will rewire the orbiting laboratory.
The crew includes Mark Polansky, commander; Navy Cmdr Bill Oefelein, pilot; Nicholas Patrick, mission specialist 1; Navy Capt. Bob Curbeam, mission specialist 2; Christer Fuglesand, mission specialist 3; Joan Higginbotham, mission specialist 4; and Navy Cmdr. Suni Williams, mission specialist 5.
Christer Fuglesang was launched last night onboard NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery on a mission to proceed with the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) and to bring back to Earth another ESA astronaut, Thomas Reiter, who has been working in the orbital outpost for five months.
Flight STS-116 started in the night of 9 December , when Discovery lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 20:47 local time, 02:47 Central European Time (CET) on 10 December. This was the first night launch of a space shuttle since its return to flight. Discovery successfully entered low Earth orbit after about 8 minutes of powered flight. Onboard the orbiter is a crew of seven, including one ESA astronaut, Christer Fuglesang.