SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

Dec. 7, 2006

Jessica Rye/Katherine Trinidad Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468

RELEASE: 06-368

NASA RESCHEDULES SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH FOR SATURDAY

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA managers postponed Thursday's space shuttle launch until Saturday because of low cloud cover. Friday's weather is not expected to be favorable for a launch attempt but mission managers believe conditions will improve by the weekend.

Launch of Discovery is now scheduled for 8:47 p.m. EST Dec. 9.

Tomorrow's weather is not expected to be favorable for a launch attempt but mission managers believe conditions will improve by the weekend.

During STS-116, the astronauts will deliver and install a girder-like structure, known as the P5 truss, aboard the station. The 4,000-pound component will make possible future installation of solar arrays. The crew will also reconfigure the station's electrical and cooling systems from temporary to permanent mode.

Discovery's crew is Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Bill Oefelein and mission specialists Bob Curbeam, Joan Higginbotham, Nicholas Patrick, Sunita Williams and Christer Fuglesang, a European Space Agency astronaut.

For the latest information about the STS-116 mission and its crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

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