14 DAY TRIAL // On November 20, representatives from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) finally signed the Transfer of Ownership document, which solidifies the delivery to the American space agency of Node 3, the next European module to fly to the International Space Station (ISS). The ceremony, which was held at the Space Station Processing Facility, at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Cape Canaveral, Florida, was attended by a large number of officials from both space agencies, as well as the media, and representatives of the company that constructed the module.
Among those in attendance were ESA Directorate of Human Spaceflight International Space Station Program Manager Bernardo Patti, the NASA ISS Program Manager, Michael Suffredini, KSC Director Robert Cabana, ISS Deputy for Operations William Dowdell, and Secondino Brondolo. The last official is the head of the space infrastructure department at Thales Alenia Space, the company that constructed Node 3. Selected media organizations also attended the ceremony, AlphaGalileo reports.
“Node 3 and Cupola are Europe's final major hardware contributions to the ISS. Once attached to the ISS in February next year, more than one-third of the pressurized ISS elements will have been built in Europe. The ISS is now almost complete and since we were able to add our European Columbus laboratory last year, our scientific and technological utilization program is at full swing and we are looking forward to its results,” Patti said after the treaty was signed. Node 3 is scheduled to be launched in February 2010, aboard a US space shuttle.
Together with the Cupola observatory, which has been at the KSC since 2004, the ensemble represents Europe's last greatest addition to the ISS. From now on, no such modules are planned until the prospective decommissioning of the station, less than five to six years from now. The new module will serve as quarters for the astronauts, but will also allow for the addition of the Cupola. The latter structure is designed to provide a magnificent, 360-degree-view of the station, as crew members operate the robotic arms from within.
“Node 3 and the Cupola are the final elements of a very challenging assembly phase, which has been a great learning experience for all partners. The fact that these modules with such important features were built in Europe says a lot about our industrial know-how and our ability to contribute to this great international project. By having developed several ISS modules and by completing its assembly in the months to come, we will open a new era of cooperation, utilization and exploration that will take humankind back to the Moon and beyond to other destinations while continuing to exploit the enormous possibilities in low Earth orbit,” ESA Director of Human Spaceflight Simonetta Di Pippo shared.
