ESA astronaut helps deliver Harmony
29 October 2007
The 23rd Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) successfully got under way on 23 October. On board Discovery was a crew of seven that included ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, from Italy, who was making his first spaceflight. Nespoli’s mission has been named Esperia, after the ancient Greek name for the Italian peninsula.
The primary purpose of the 14-day STS-120 mission is to deliver and install the Italian-built Node 2 module, the first European-built section to be permanently attached to the ISS. The cylinder-shaped module (also known as Harmony) is also the first addition to the Station’s work and living space for six years. Harmony will be attached to the ISS on 26 October, during the first of four spacewalks. Nespoli’s job will be to co-ordinate spacewalk activities from inside the Shuttle and to carry out a programme of medical and biological experiments.
A second main task for the astronauts is to relocate one of the ISS truss sections, then deploy its huge solar arrays and radiator. Once the Shuttle heads for home, the Station’s robotic arm will be used to move Harmony to its final location - the forward-facing port of the US Destiny laboratory.
In the coming months, Europe’s Columbus laboratory and the Japanese Kibo laboratory will be permanently attached to Node 2. The pressurised module will act as a corridor for the ISS astronauts, providing electrical power and environmental control for each lab. It will also be a short-term docking location for the Space Shuttle and Japan’s H-II transfer vehicle.
