Dec 16 2006
From The Space Library
Astronauts Robert L. Curbeam Jr. and Sunita L. Williams conducted the third spacewalk for Mission STS-116, rearranging electrical channels on the station’s exterior. The completion of that task finalized preparations for the planned additions of European and Japanese laboratory modules to the ISS. During the lengthy 7.5-hour spacewalk, Curbeam and Williams also made some progress on retracting a solar array, although they were unable to fold the device completely. NASA planned for a fourth spacewalk to continue work on the array.
Mike Schneider, “4th Spacewalk Planned To Fix Panel,” Washington Post, 17 December 2006.
The first successful launch at a commercial spaceport in the United States took place when the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport launched a rocket called the Minotaur, carrying two satellites. The state governments of Virginia and Maryland had funded the spaceport to serve the commercial space launch market. Other institutions contributing to the venture included Old Dominion University and several aerospace companies. The facility was located on land leased from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) near Chincoteague, Virginia. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Virginia, had built the rocket. One of the satellites it carried was a U.S. Air Force tactical surveillance satellite called TacSat-2. The other was a 10-kilogram (22-pound) NASA satellite called GeneSat 1, designed for experiments on E. coli bacteria.
Michael E. Ruane, “At Va. Spaceport, Rocket Launches 1,000 Dreams,” Washington Post, 17 December 2006; Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 638, 1 January 2007, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx638.html (accessed 1 July 2010).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
