This week in 2007, space shuttle Atlantis and STS-117 launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to deliver the second and third starboard truss segments and a pair of solar arrays to the International Space Station. The truss segments, the heaviest space station payload carried by the space shuttle, provide electrical power and data interfaces for the station’s electronics and convert sunlight to electricity. Here, NASA astronaut Jim Reilly enters the station’s Quest Airlock following the conclusion of the mission’s third spacewalk. 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 scientific 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)