spacetoday.net: Russian module added to station

Russian module added to station

Posted: Wed, May 19, 2010, 6:23 AM ET (1023 GMT)
STS-132: Rassvet added to station (NASA)

Astronauts on the International Space Station added a new module to the orbiting outpost on Tuesday. Astronauts used the robotic arms on the station and the shuttle Atlantis to move the Mini-Research Module 1 from the shuttle's cargo bay to the Earth-facing port on the Zarya module, locking it into place at 8:50 am EDT (1250 GMT). The Russian-built module, also known as Rassvet, or "Dawn", was launched containing nine tons of cargo for the station. The module will later be outfitted as a lab space and will support a separate Russian lab module scheduled for launch in 2012. Astronauts Michael Good and Steve Bowen will perform the second spacewalk of the STS-132 mission on Wednesday, replacing several batteries mounted on the station's truss.