 |  | | | | Space Station Node 2 'Moves' Toward Major Milestone
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03.02.05
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Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256.544.0034)
Photo release: 05-023
+ Large (1250 x 938, 72 ppi)
+ Medium (720 x 540, 72 ppi)
+ Small (100 x 75, 72 ppi)
Workers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida use an overhead crane to move Node 2 – the second of three connectors between International Space Station modules – in preparation for its element leak test, a major milestone in processing the hub module for launch. Node 2 was moved from the Space Station Processing Facility, where it is being prepared for flight, to the Operations & Checkout Building, where it was tested in a large vacuum chamber.
Node 2 is more than 20 feet long and 14.5 feet wide, and weighs approximately 30,000 pounds. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., coordinates the day-to-day technical activities necessary for integration of the Node 2 systems and preparing this "utility hub" for flight. Once on orbit, it will make the Space Station roomier, permitting attachment of the Japanese and European laboratories that will expand the orbiting facility’s useable space from that of a typical three-bedroom house to that of a five-bedroom house. These labs – which will be used for science research, and are expected to reach the Space Station in 2007 – are part of the joint effort of NASA and 15 other international partners to build the orbiting complex. International contractor Alenia Spazio, based in Rome, Italy, built Node 2 at its facility in Torino, Italy, under an agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency.
After the testing was successfully completed, Node 2 was returned to the Space Station Processing Facility to continue being readied for a December 2006 launch to the Station aboard the Space Shuttle. (Credit: NASA/KSC)
+ Large (1250 x 938, 72 ppi)
+ Medium (720 x 540, 72 ppi)
+ Small (100 x 75, 72 ppi)
Workers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida use an overhead crane to move Node 2 – the second of three connectors between International Space Station modules – in preparation for its element leak test, a major milestone in processing the hub module for launch. Node 2 was moved from the Space Station Processing Facility, where it is being prepared for flight, to the Operations & Checkout Building, where it was tested in a large vacuum chamber.
Node 2 is more than 20 feet long and 14.5 feet wide, and weighs approximately 30,000 pounds. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., coordinates the day-to-day technical activities necessary for integration of the Node 2 systems and preparing this "utility hub" for flight. Once on orbit, it will make the Space Station roomier, permitting attachment of the Japanese and European laboratories that will expand the orbiting facility’s useable space from that of a typical three-bedroom house to that of a five-bedroom house. These labs – which will be used for science research, and are expected to reach the Space Station in 2007 – are part of the joint effort of NASA and 15 other international partners to build the orbiting complex. International contractor Alenia Spazio, based in Rome, Italy, built Node 2 at its facility in Torino, Italy, under an agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency.
After the testing was successfully completed, Node 2 was returned to the Space Station Processing Facility to continue being readied for a December 2006 launch to the Station aboard the Space Shuttle. (Credit: NASA/KSC)
+ Large (1250 x 938, 72 ppi)
+ Medium (720 x 540, 72 ppi)
+ Small (100 x 75, 72 ppi)
Workers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida use an overhead crane to move Node 2 – the second of three connectors between International Space Station modules – in preparation for its element leak test, a major milestone in processing the hub module for launch. Node 2 was moved from the Space Station Processing Facility, where it is being prepared for flight, to the Operations & Checkout Building, where it was tested in a large vacuum chamber.
Node 2 is more than 20 feet long and 14.5 feet wide, and weighs approximately 30,000 pounds. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., coordinates the day-to-day technical activities necessary for integration of the Node 2 systems and preparing this "utility hub" for flight. Once on orbit, it will make the Space Station roomier, permitting attachment of the Japanese and European laboratories that will expand the orbiting facility’s useable space from that of a typical three-bedroom house to that of a five-bedroom house. These labs – which will be used for science research, and are expected to reach the Space Station in 2007 – are part of the joint effort of NASA and 15 other international partners to build the orbiting complex. International contractor Alenia Spazio, based in Rome, Italy, built Node 2 at its facility in Torino, Italy, under an agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency.
After the testing was successfully completed, Node 2 was returned to the Space Station Processing Facility to continue being readied for a December 2006 launch to the Station aboard the Space Shuttle. (Credit: NASA/KSC)
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