Europe Delivers Final Space Station Module To NASA
Europe has delivered its final major module for the International Space Station (ISS) — the cylindrical Node 3 known as “Tranquility”, built by Italy’s Thales Alenia Space.
Node 3 will soon be shipped to Kennedy Space Center, from where it will be transported to the space station via space shuttle Endeavour, which is currently set to launch in February 2010.
Once attached to the ISS, Node 3 will store life support gear and the Cupola, a large "bay" window that was also constructed in Europe.  Cupola will also be transported to the station on the Endeavour flight.
The installation of the two European components will essentially complete the space station’s construction phase.
"We still have growth opportunities," NASA space station manager Mike Suffredini told BBC News.
Suffredini had traveled to Turin, Italy to accept the Node on behalf of NASA.
"If someone wanted to bring another module to orbit, they could – and our Russian friends do have another couple of modules they are proposing. But the key for us all in the partnership is to concentrate now on utilization," he said.
Node 3′s delivery concludes a barter agreement made between the U.S. and Europe, in which Europe agreed to provide two connecting nodes in exchange for a trip into space for its Columbus science laboratory. The U.S. has already met its obligation, having flown Columbus to the ISS last year.
More than 20 feet in length and approximately 14 feet wide, Node 3 is constructed under the same design principles as Europe’s other space station components.
Node 2, Columbus, the ATV space freighter and the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (which perform as packing boxes for key space shuttle re-supply missions) all have a similar cylindrical look.
Node 3 has several racks inside its multi-layer, impact-hardened shell. These bays will soon become filled in orbit by equipment already onboard the ISS, including the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS).
The ECLSS scrubs the air of carbon dioxide to maintain its oxygen concentration and recycles waste water, including urine.
Node 3 will also store a treadmill the crew will use to regularly exercise their bodies to maintain proper bone density, which tends to decline over time in microgravity conditions.
The Cupola, which is already on site at Kennedy, will be connected to one end of the Node for the flight into orbit. Once in space, however, it will be transferred to a position that better allows the crew to use its windows to view the full breadth of the platform.
While Node 3 is the final major fixed item Europe will send to the ISS, it will nevertheless continue to build space freighters. These Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV) are part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) continuing "fees" for being part of the space station coalition.
By contributing several tons of food, air, water, fuel and other equipment to the platform roughly every 18 months, ESA earns places on the ISS for its astronauts.
The latest ATV, called Johannes Kepler after the noted 17th Century German scientist, is being prepared in the same clean-room facility as Node 3.
It is possible that ISS partners will order additional modules in the future, depending upon how long the platform remains in operation.
However, there is no current agreement in place to keep flying the station beyond 2015.Â
But Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA’s director of human spaceflight, told BBC News that discussions will likely resolve the issue shortly.
"We are working on the possibility, or at least we are verifying the possibility, of keeping our hardware certified up to 2025," she said.
"For sure, the first step will be to work on an extension up to 2020."
Node 3 is set to leave Thales Alenia Space Sunday, and will be transported by an Airbus Beluga heavy-lift aircraft to Kennedy Space Center.
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Image Credit: ESA
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