This week in 2001, space shuttle Atlantis, mission STS-104, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. In a series of three spacewalks, astronauts attached the Quest joint airlock module to the Unity node and affixed high-pressure gas tanks to the airlock. The space station and shuttle crews also tested nitrogen and oxygen lines for use on future shuttle missions and installed valves to connect Quest to the station’s environmental control system. Here, the Quest airlock is installed onto the starboard side of the Unity node. Today, the Payload Operations Integration Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center serves as “science central” for the International Space Station, working 24/7, 365 days a year in support of the orbiting laboratory’s science experiments. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage. (NASA)