Astronauts float into Japan's newly open space lab
04 Jun 2008 22:06:02 GMT Source: Reuters
By Ed Stoddard HOUSTON, June 4 (Reuters) - Japan's space lab is now open for business, science -- and art. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station floated into the lab module on Wednesday after power to it was activated, kick-starting Japan's permanent place in space. "The Kibo module is now open," said Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, just before the opening of the hatch. Hoshide, brandishing a sign that said "Welcome" in English and Japanese, then floated in with his crew mates. Dubbed "Kibo" or "Hope," the lab was delivered by the shuttle Discovery which blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday for a two-week mission that has included a plumbing call to the orbital outpost, which is continuously manned and so needs its toilet in working order. Kibo is the centerpiece of the mission, making the $100 billion station and the scientific experiments conducted on it a global effort in space. Kibo is a bus-sized addition to the station and is the largest of its laboratories. Shaped like a cylinder, it is about 37 feet (11 metres) long and 15 feet (4.6 metres) in diameter and weighs about 32,000 pounds (14,520 kg). There is room inside for 23 refrigerator-sized racks, 10 of which will be devoted to science experiments. The entire lab is so big it needs three shuttle flights for launch and assembly. The current mission is the second one devoted to it. Areas of research will include materials sciences, fluid physics and biomedicine. Kibo also will also have a cultural flavor and host activities such as art and dance, although details have not yet been disclosed. During the mission's second spacewalk on Thursday, astronauts Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan will begin the external outfitting of Kibo among other activities. This will include installing two cameras which will be used to judge clearances and spacing for the module's robotic arm. Earlier on Wednesday cosmonaut-plumber Oleg Kononenko, a member of the space station crew, tackled the critical job of fixing the sole toilet aboard the outpost with apparently successful results. Kibo's launch had been on hold for years because of delays to the construction of the station. NASA now has just two years to complete assembly before the shuttle fleet's retirement. Seven construction missions and two resupply flights are pending. The U.S. space agency also plans a final servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope in October.
A protester holds a picture of Mikhail Khodorkovsky of Russia during a demonstration in Moscow May 31, 2008, marking the third anniversary of the date when Khodorkovsky was sentenced. The former ...
