Astronauts Ready to Tackle Space Station Construction

A team of astronauts on Earth and in orbit are poised for a December spaceflight to haul a new European laboratory at the International Space Station (ISS).

The seven astronauts of NASA's shuttle Atlantis are training to launch toward the ISS with the European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus laboratory as the station's Expedition 16 crew gears up for two planned spacewalks this week to ready the outpost for the new addition.

"We're really excited about this mission," shuttle commander Stephen Frick told reporters Monday on Atlantis's Pad 39A launch site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Frick and his STS-122 crew are due to launch spaceward on Dec. 6 on an 11-day mission to deliver Columbus to the ISS. They will climb into the 100-ton Atlantis orbiter on Tuesday for a dress rehearsal of their launch day activities.

"So far, we're looking right on schedule for Dec. 6," Frick said. "The real challenge is on the station side. They've just had a ton of work to get done since [the last flight]."

Commanded by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, the space station's three-person Expedition 16 crew is currently in the midst of a packed month of spacewalks, robotics and module outfitting to ensure the orbital laboratory's new Harmony connecting module is ready for Atlantis's arrival next month. The station crew moved Harmony to the front of the outpost's U.S. Destiny module last week.

Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani are now set to stage a pair of spacewalks, on Tuesday and Saturday, respectively, to fold the Harmony node into the station's power and cooling systems. The spacewalks must go smoothly to allow December's shuttle mission to launch, NASA has said.

"These [spacewalks], I expect, will be tough," Tani told Chicago's WBBM Radio in a Monday interview broadcast on NASA TV. "Plus, we know that we are in the critical path to getting the node fully activated."

Tani and Whitson equipped Harmony with a shuttle docking port last week before moving it to the front of Destiny using the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm. The new connecting node will serve as the hub for the ESA's Columbus module and Japan's Kibo laboratory.

"We're looking forward to the work ahead," Whitson said. "We know it's going to be challenging, but we're prepared."

NASA will broadcast the Expedition 16 crew's second spacewalk outside the ISS live on NASA TV on Nov. 20 beginning at 4:30 a.m. EST (0930 GMT). Click here for SPACE.com's ISS mission updates and NASA TV feed.

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