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Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington          June 3, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-4769)

Bruce Buckingham
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321/867-2468)

Kylie Moritz
Johnson Space Center, Houston 
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

RELEASE: 03-190

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION MODULES ARRIVE AT KENNEDY SPACE 
CENTER

     After traveling thousands of miles, two major components 
of the International Space Station completed the first leg of 
a journey that will eventually end 240 miles above the Earth. 
NASA's Node 2, built for the agency by the European Space 
Agency (ESA) in Italy, and the Pressurized Module of the 
Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) arrived in Florida and are 
being transported to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) this 
week.

"Delivery of these components, built in Europe and Japan, to 
KSC for integrated testing prior to flight is yet another 
indication of the significant global cooperation and 
proactive planning required for successful operation of the 
International Space Station program," said Bill Gerstenmaier, 
NASA's Station Program Manager. "Their arrival in the United 
States signifies the Space Station international partnership 
is continuing to move forward with the steps necessary to 
construct our unique research platform in space," he said.

The arrival of Node 2, the next pressurized module to be 
installed on the Station, sets in motion the final steps 
toward completing assembly of essential U.S. components. When 
installed, Node 2 will increase the living and working space 
inside the Space Station to approximately 18,000 cubic feet. 
It will also allow the addition of international laboratories 
from Europe and Japan. 

The Pressurized Module is the first element of the JEM, named 
"Kibo" (Hope), to be delivered to KSC. The JEM is Japan's 
primary contribution to the Station. It will enhance the 
unique research capabilities of the orbiting complex by 
providing an additional environment for astronauts to conduct 
science experiments.

The JEM also includes an exposed facility (platform) for 
space environment experiments, a robotic manipulator system, 
and two logistics modules. The various JEM components will be 
assembled in space over the course of three Shuttle missions. 

An Airbus Beluga heavy-lift aircraft, carrying Node 2, 
departed May 30 from Turin, Italy, where the Italian Space 
Agency's (ASI) contractor, Alenia Spazio, built it. Following 
post-transportation inspections, ASI will formally transfer 
ownership of Node 2 to ESA, which, in turn, will sign it over 
to NASA.

The container transport ship carrying JEM departed May 2 from 
Yokohama Harbor in Japan for the voyage to the United States. 
The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) 
developed the laboratory at the Tsukuba Space Center near 
Tokyo.

Later this summer, integrated testing will confirm module 
compatibility and, ultimately, lead to pre-launch processing 
at KSC's Space Station Processing Facility.

NASA International Space Station program managers will host a 
welcoming ceremony for the modules and international partner 
representatives from ESA, ASI and NASDA June 18. An 
opportunity for media to interview the representatives and 
take photographs of the modules will follow the ceremony. 
U.S. media that desire to attend must contact the KSC Press 
Site by 4 p.m. (EDT) June 16. International media must submit 
credential requests by 4 p.m. (EDT) June 6. 

Media who do not possess KSC credentials should submit their 
request via facsimile to: 321/867-2692 and include the 
following information:

Full legal name 
Title 
Organization 
Address 
Telephone number
Date of birth  
Place of birth 
Social Security number or Passport number
Country of citizenship

For more information, please contact the KSC Press Site at: 
321/867-2468.

For more information about NASA and the International Space 
Station on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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