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Completing the Kibo Japanese Laboratory on
the International Space Station
There won't be much time for relaxing during the next mission to the International Space Station, despite the fact that space shuttle Endeavour will be delivering the station's porch. Endeavour will bring with it the final pieces of the Japanese Kibo complex and a load of large spares to keep the space station going after the shuttle's retirement.
The crew will conduct five spacewalks to install the new space station components and equipment, and to set up some storage locations on the station's truss. The shuttle will also deliver a new flight engineer, Tim Kopra, to join the Expedition 20 crew, and return Expedition 20 Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to Earth.
Endeavour's cargo will span a wide range of uses. The big ticket item will be the Japanese Experiment Module - Exposed Facility - the porch for the Japanese Kibo complex, where science experiments will be exposed to the extreme environment of space. To store and transport the experiments that the exposed facility will accommodate, Endeavour will also carry a storage area similar to the logistics module on the Kibo laboratory, but unpressurized - the Experiment Logistics Module - Exposed Section.
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