HOUSTON - The
International Space Station (ISS) received a new pantry chock full of fresh
food, equipment and other vital supplies Friday after shuttle astronauts
installed a fresh cargo pod at the orbital laboratory.
STS-121
mission specialists Lisa
Nowak and Stephanie
Wilson deftly berthed the Italian-built Leonardo cargo module into a slot
outside the space station's Unity node at about 7:45 a.m. EDT (1145 GMT), where
it will remain parked throughout Discovery's eight-day stay at the ISS.
"Houston, Discovery, on the big loop, robotics and CBM operator are go for first stage
capture," Nowak said as Leonardo reached its perch outside the Unity node's
Common Berthing Mechanism, or CBM.
Aside from
a couple of errant straps on Leonardo's Unity port, which ISS and shuttle
astronauts tracked closely to make sure they didn't hinder the cargo module's arrival,
the operation went smoothly.
"We've had
three sets of eyes through the portal there and we cannot see any signs of the
offending straps," STS-121 mission specialist Michael
Fossum said after Leonardo reached its destination.
Known as a
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), Leonardo is carrying more than 5,000
pounds (2,267 kilograms) of the overall 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms)
of supplies launched toward the ISS aboard Discovery.
Additional items
are being moved into the ISS from Discovery's middeck, with several station
components exposed to space in the shuttle's payload bay. Over the next week or
so, all nine astronauts aboard the ISS will have their hands full with the
intricately choreographed cargo transfer process.
"We can't really
pull everything out of our logistics module and put it in the station because
it would be so crowded we couldn't move through it," STS-121 commander Steven
Lindsey told ABC News Radio after Leonardo arrived. "It's kind of a shell
game where you have to make room for something before you pull something else out."
Discovery's
STS-121 mission is NASA's second shuttle flight since the 2003 Columbia accident. The
mission ferried European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas
Reiter to the ISS as a third crewmember, will deliver about 3.6 tons of
supplies, as well as test shuttle inspection and repair techniques.
The STS-121
crew docked
at the ISS on July 6 after launching
spaceward from Kennedy Space Center on July 4.
Critical
cargo
Tucked
among the thousands of pounds of cargo aboard Leonardo are a couple of vital
items for space station crews.
The module
is carrying a new Oxygen
Generation System, a U.S.-built piece of equipment that will separate water
into breathable oxygen and waste hydrogen once installed inside the space
destination's Destiny laboratory. The 1,465-pound (664-kilogram) U.S. oxygen generator functions much like the Russian-built Elektron
currently used aboard the ISS. Together, the two systems will help support
larger, six-person crews once the U.S. generator is brought online.
"It will
need some other software capabilities and some additional hardware before it
can be operational," Debbie Hahn, Discovery's STS-121 payload manager, told SPACE.com
of the new oxygen generator before launch.
Also
critical for space station astronauts is the stationary cycle used for exercise
during their long, six-month missions. Leonardo carries a new such cycle, known
as a Cycle Ergonometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS), so
astronauts can maintain muscle strength during the long months of
weightlessness.
Leonardo
also carries a pair of new science tools bound for the U.S.-built Destiny
laboratory. A Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) will allow
station astronauts to store biological specimens for later transport back to
Earth, while the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) includes a set of
four centrifuges that can be spun up to different speeds to check how plants
grow under different stresses.
"It basically
provides a plant and growth environment in different gravities," Hahn said of
the EMCS system. "It can be used for other science other than plant biology...they
could be used for later exploration activities."
Shuttle and
ISS astronauts are expected to begin retrieving the new freezer, oxygen
generator and numerous other supplies locked inside Leonardo after they open
its hatchway at 2:23 p.m. EDT (1823 GMT) today, NASA said.
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