Mission

EF installed to the PM (Image credit: NASA)

With the Exposed Facility (EF) attached to the Pressurized Module (PM), Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" is finally completed as a permanent on-orbit laboratory that offers both pressurized and exposed environments for scientific experiments.

On flight day 4 (FD 4), Kibo's EF was attached to the Kibo's PM today at 8:40 a.m. After berthing, the subsystems necessary for operating the EF (power supply, data transmission and thermal control) were activated in series with the commands sent from JAXA's Tsukuba Space Center (TKSC). At 11:23 a.m., all the functions of the EF were confirmed nominal, and the completion of assembling Kibo was declared.

Astronaut Wakata　operated the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) installing the EF to the PM. The task was conducted as part of the EVA #1, which started at 1:19 a.m. today and lasted for 5 hours 32 minutes.

Activities for FD5 include:

• Unloading the ICC-VLC from shuttle's payload bay
• Calibration of JEM RMS camera
• Preparation for EVA #2

*All times are Japan Standard Time (JST)