Europe's Space station module handed over
Europe has rolled out its last major module for the space station. The cylindrical Node 3 - to be known as "Tranquility" - was constructed by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. Once attached to the station, it will house life support gear as well as being home to the Cupola, a giant "bay" window that was also built in Europe.
Node 3 will be shipped shortly to the Kennedy Space Center in the US, from where it will catch a ride to the station in the back of a shuttle. The delivery of Node 3 concludes a barter arrangement made between Europe and the US, in which Europe agreed to supply two connecting nodes, 2 and 3, in return for a free trip into space for its Columbus science laboratory.Some 7m in length and about 4.5m in width, Node 3 is built around the same design principals as Europe's other space station contributions. Columbus, Node 2, the ATV space freighter, and the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (which serve as the packing boxes for major re-supply missions carried out by the US shuttle) all have a similar cylindrical look about them.
No comments:
Post a Comment