After they successfully competed the three spacewalks, the
crew of space shuttle Discovery is preparing
the end of joint operations today and the return home.
During their mission, the astronauts have delivered and installed
the Kibo pressurized science laboratory, also known as the JPM.
The JPM is the largest pressurized module on the station.
The module is cylindrical in shape and is 11.2 meters (36.7 feet) long and 4.4
meters (14.4 feet) in diameter, about the size of a large tour bus. The JPM has
a total mass (when fully assembled) of 15.9 tons. Up to 23 racks (10 of which
are international standard payload racks) can be accommodated inside it.
The JPM is primarily equipped with station common hardware.
Two grapple fixtures are mounted on the external surface to allow the space
station’s robotic arm to grapple and move the JPM. An Active CBM is provided on
the zenith side of the module for attaching the JLM. The JPM has a small
scientific airlock through which exposed experiments, or orbital replacement
units (ORUs), can be transferred between the Kibo pressurized and unpressurized
facilities.
Kibo’s robotic arm is fixed at the upper side of the JPM
endcone. The JPM has an 8-rack
equivalent length, but the presence of the JEM airlock and the CBM hatch for
access to the JLM limits rack installation.
For each of the four walls inside the JPM, with the exception of the
zenith wall, six racks can be installed in a continuous row. The zenith wall will hold five racks in a
row.
The JPM is equipped with two windows, located just above the
JEM airlock. The crew can clearly see the Kibo unpressurized facilities through
these windows. The crew also will be
able to observe and monitor the unpressurized facilities with external
television cameras mounted on the JPM.
Assembly of the Kibo pressurized facilities was completed
during the STS-124 mission. In turn, the Kibo Exposed Facility (EF) and the
Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section (ELM-ES) are scheduled to be
launched on the STS-127 (2J/A) mission.
By the summer of 2009, Japan’s
unmanned cargo transfer spacecraft, the HTV, will initiate its operations. The
HTV will be launched aboard the H-IIB launch vehicle from the Tanegashima Space
Center in Japan, and begin transferring supplies, payloads and cargo, both
pressurized and unpressurized, to the station.
During the preparations for return, the Discovery’s astronauts
will transfer spacewalk equipment and at least one spacesuit back to Discovery.
They will enjoy some off-duty time and also will check out the tools and
equipment needed for undocking activities.
At 3:57 p.m. EDT, the two crews will bid farewell to one
another.
Also, the STS-124 astronauts delivered Expedition 17 Flight
Engineer Greg Chamitoff, who replaced Garrett Reisman, now a mission specialist
returning to Earth aboard Discovery.
Chamitoff will join expedition commander and Russian Air
Force Lt. Col. Sergei Volkov, 35, and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, 43, who
were launched to the complex in the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft on April 8 from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Chamitoff will return to Earth in the fall
on shuttle mission STS-126, while Volkov and Kononenko will return in the Soyuz
in October.
Update: Discovery undocked from the International Space Station today at 7:42
a.m. EDT, ending its almost nine-day stay at the orbital outpost. On
Tuesday, The STS-124 and Expedition 17 crews bid one another farewell,
and closed the hatches between the two spacecraft at 4:42 p.m.