Kibo Will Fly Onboard Endeavour

After traveling thousands of miles, a major component of the International Space Station is set to begin preparations for launch. The Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section for the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Monday, March 12. The Japanese Experiment Module is composed of three segments, and is known as Kibo -- which means "hope" in Japanese.

NASA tells ANN Kibo is Japan's first human space facility and its primary contribution to the station. It will provide an additional environment in which astronauts can conduct science experiments.

Kibo consists of six components: two research facilities -- the Pressurized Module and Exposed Facility; a Logistics Module attached to each of them; a Remote Manipulator System; and an Inter-Orbit Communication System unit. Kibo also has a scientific airlock through which experiments are transferred and exposed to the external environment of space.

The ship carrying the module departed February 7 from Yokohama, Japan, for the United States. Kibo's various components will be assembled in space during the course of three shuttle missions -- designated assembly flights 1J, 1J/A and 2J/A.

The first of those three missions, STS-123, will carry the Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, targeted for launch in 2007.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/jem.html