WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Astronaut Soichi Noguchi, with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), looks at the Japanese Experiment Module after its arrival at Port Canaveral, Fla. Built by the Tsukuba Space Center near Tokyo, the pressurized module is the first element of the JEM, Japans primary contribution to the space station, to be delivered to KSC. It will enhance the unique research capabilities of the orbiting complex by providing an additional shirt-sleeve environment for astronauts to conduct science experiments. The JEM also includes two logistics modules, an exposed pallet for space environment experiments and a robotic manipulator system that are still under construction in Japan. The various JEM components will be assembled in space over the course of three space shuttle missions.