NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery Set To Land Friday

Dec. 21, 2006 - CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Commander Mark Polansky and his crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery will complete their 13-day mission to the International Space Station Friday, Dec. 22. NASA will choose one of three potential landing sites based on weather conditions.

The different shuttle landing opportunities are (all times Eastern):

--Kennedy Space Center, Fla.: 3:56 p.m. or 5:32 p.m.
--Edwards Air Force Base, Calif: 5:27 p.m., 7 p.m. or 8:36 p.m.
--White Sands Space Harbor, N.M.: 5:27 p.m. or 7:02 p.m.

Two hours after landing NASA officials will hold a briefing to discuss the STS-116 mission. The participants are:

--NASA Administrator Michael Griffin
--Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier --NASA Launch Director Mike Leinbach

A news conference with Discovery’s crew will depend on the landing site and time. For information on landing day, please call the Kennedy Press Site at 321-867-2468.

The Kennedy Press Site will open for landing activities at 8 a.m. EST Friday and close at approximately 10:30 p.m. The STS-116 mission badges are in effect through landing. The press accreditation building on State Road 3 will be open on Friday from 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The last bus will depart the press site for the Shuttle Landing Facility one hour before landing.

In the event of a landing at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., limited facilities will be available to previously accredited journalists. For further information, please call Dryden Public Affairs at 661-276-3449.

For credentials to cover a White Sands landing, media should contact the White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs Office at 505-678-1134 by Thursday at 5 p.m. EST. News organizations requesting access for satellite transmissions should contact the public affairs office by 3 p.m. EST. Journalists with STS-116 mission badges from NASA will be issued separate credentials.

For the latest information on the STS-116 mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Contact Information

Katherine Trinidad

Headquarters, Washington

NASA

Contact via E-mail