"Leonardo", one of the three Multipurpose Pressurised Logistics Modules
(MPLM) of the Italian Space Agency built by Alenia Spazio, is scheduled
to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 30th on board
the Space Shuttle Endeavour during the course of mission STS-111.
This will be Leonardo’s third visit to the Station after the STS-102
and -105 missions in March and August 2001.
Each designed to fly 25 times in 10 years, the MPLMs are used to ferry
experiments, materials and supplies between Earth and the ISS. They
can also be operated on orbit attached to the Station, providing
stowage space and an inhabitable environment for two people.
STS-111 is the fourteenth ISS assembly flight and, besides Leonardo,
it will take the Mobile Base System to the Station and carry the three
members of the crew of Expedition 5 to replace Expedition 4 as the
inhabitants of the orbiting complex. The mission will last 12 days
with landing expected at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on June 11th.
At its site in Turin, Alenia Spazio is constructing over 50% of the
pressurised, and therefore inhabitable, volume of the Space Station.
In recognition of this contribution to the huge international
programme, on its 11 day mission, Endeavour will also be taking intAt the launch site at KSC, Leonardo has been moved to Pad A where
it will be installed in the Payload Ground Handling Mechanism until
Endeavour arrives. The Shuttle itself has been moved from its bay
in the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building
where it will be mated to the External Tank/Solid Rocket boosters
and undergo the Shuttle Interface Test.
[NOTE: An image supporting this release is available at
http://www.alespazio.it/news/68a.jpg (65KB)]
