STS-116 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. Liftoff was originally scheduled for 7 December 2006, but that attempt was canceled due to a low cloud ceiling. Discovery successfully lifted off during the second launch attempt on 9 December 2006 at 20:47:35 EST. It was the first night launch of a Space Shuttle orbiter since STS-113, which launched on 23 November 2002.
The mission is also referred to as ISS-12A.1 by the ISS program. The main goals of the mission were delivery and attachment of the International Space Station's P5 truss segment, a major rewiring of the station's power system, and exchange of ISS Expedition 14 personnel. The shuttle landed at 17:32 EST on 22 December 2006 at Kennedy Space Center, a delay of 98 minutes from schedule due to unfavorable weather conditions. This mission was particularly notable to Sweden since it was the first time a Scandinavian astronaut (Christer Fuglesang) has visited space.
STS-116 was the final scheduled Space Shuttle flight planned for launch from Pad 39B as NASA reconfigures the pad for Ares I launches. The only remaining use of Pad 39B by Shuttles was as a reserve for a potential STS-400 rescue mission in May 2009 for STS-125, the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.
STS-116 was the last flight of Discovery before maintenance; the next Discovery mission was STS-120, which launched on 23 October 2007.
Read more about STS-116: Crew, Mission Highlights, Mission Payloads, Mission Background, Wake-up Calls, Mission Parameters