Astronauts enter new module for first time

Space & Earth science / Space Exploration

STS-120 and Expedition 16 crew members gather in the new Harmony module to talk to the press. Image credit: NASA TV

The STS-120 and Expedition 16 crews entered the Harmony module for the first time at 8:24 a.m EDT after Mission Specialist Paolo Nespoli and Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson opened the hatches.

Harmony will provide the docking ports for new research laboratories from the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The laboratories will be delivered to the station on upcoming shuttle missions.

Members of the shuttle and station crews gathered in the new Harmonony module shortly after 2 p.m to discuss the mission in interviews with CBS News, FOX News, and WHAM-TV of Rochester, New York.

The participants were Whitson, Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko, and STS-120 Commander Pam Melroy, Pilot George Zamka, and mission specialists Stephanie Wilson, Doug Wheelock and Clay Anderson.

The crews are also preparing for Sunday’s spacewalk, the second of the mission. The spacewalk will be conducted by Mission Specialist Scott Parazynski and Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Daniel Tani. To prepare, they will do an overnight “campout” in the station’s airlock.

Source: NASA

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