NASA receives space station science module

A key component of the International Space Station (ISS) was delivered to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30. The Columbus research laboratory module is the primary contribution of the European Space Agency to ISS. The Columbus module will expand the research capabilities of the station in the areas of life, physical, and materials sciences. The module can hold up to 10 payload facility racks of experiments and has four exterior mounting platforms to allow the ISS crew to conduct experiments outside of the station. "The arrival of Columbus is a major milestone in moving forward to complete the station," said Michael Suffredini, NASA's ISS program manager. The module will be held at Kennedy until its launch on the space shuttle on the seventh upcoming scheduled flight to ISS. The first of these scheduled flights is planned for July.