WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

The International Space Station Node 2 module is shown in a processing facility. The installment of Node 2 to the station will signify the U.S. Core Complete stage of assembly, at which time the station can support the addition of international laboratories from Europe and Japan. Node 2 will provide a passageway between four International Space Station science experiment modules: the U.S. Destiny Laboratory, the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module, the European Columbus Laboratory and the Centrifuge Accommodation Module. Under contract of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), Alenia Spazio in Turin, Italy led a consortium of European sub-contractors to build Node 2. The module was built for NASA under a barter agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) in exchange for the launch of the European Columbus Laboratory by the space shuttle to the International Space Station.