NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

For release: 06-11-03
Photo release #: 03-095

Space Station utility hub ready for date with 'Destiny'

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The International Space Station's Node 2

Weighing approximately 30,000 pounds, Node 2 is the second of three connectors between International Space Station modules. Node 2 is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. This "utility hub" will make the Space Station roomier, allowing it to expand from the size of a three-bedroom house to the space equivalent of a typical five-bedroom house, once the Japanese and European laboratories are attached to it. In an agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency, international contractor Alenia Spazio, based in Rome, Italy, built Node 2 at its facility in Torino, Italy. Workers there prepared the Node for shipment to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 1. Node 2 is more than 20 feet long and 14.5 feet wide. (NASA/MSFC)

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