Posted: Fri, Mar 16, 2007, 8:14 PM ET (0014 GMT)
NASA announced Thursday that a key module to be added to the International Space Station later this year has been officially named "Harmony". The name was selected from a student competition and will be applied to the module formerly known as Node 2, a component that will be used to connect future ISS modules. Harmony will be added to the ISS on the STS-120 shuttle mission later this year. In other ISS news, the station's orbit was raised Friday by several kilometers by using the thrusters on the Progress M-58 spacecraft. Prior to the maneuver the station's altitude has gradually decayed to 332 kilometers, the lowest since the first station components were launched in 1998. Also, ESA officials confirmed that the first launch of their ATV cargo spacecraft has been pushed back again, from July until November. Part of the reason for the delay is to accommodate the delayed launch of the European lab module Columbus, now scheduled to be added to the station during a shuttle mission in December; the extra time will also give personnel more time to prepare the first ATV spacecraft, named Jules Verne, for its flight.

Related Links:

•  Florida Today article about Harmony
•  NASA press release about Harmony
•  Itar-Tass article about station reboost
•  MSNBC article about station orbit
•  SPACE.com article about ATV delay