KSC-06pd2879

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Sigmar Wittig, head of the DLR, the German Space Agency; Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Space Operations; Mike Griffin, NASA administrator; Michel Tognini, head of the European Astronaut Center; and Bill Parsons, Kennedy Space Center deputy director, examine the thermal protection system tiles beneath Space Shuttle Discovery following the landing of mission STS-116 on Runway 15 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. During the STS-116 mission, three spacewalks attached the P5 integrated truss structure to the station, and completed the rewiring of the orbiting laboratory's power system. A fourth spacewalk retracted a stubborn solar array. Main gear touchdown was at 5:32 p.m. EST. Nose gear touchdown was at 5:32:12 p.m. and wheel stop was at 5:32:52 p.m. At touchdown -- nominally about 2,500 ft. beyond the runway threshold -- the orbiter is traveling at a speed ranging from 213 to 226 mph. Discovery traveled 5,330,000 miles, landing on orbit 204. Mission elapsed time was 12 days, 20 hours, 44 minutes and 16 seconds. This is the 64th landing at KSC. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett