WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

The first U.S. module to be launched to the International Space Station, a connecting module called Node 1, is shown as it neared the completion of manufacturing in the spring of 1997. The node was shipped from the Boeing manufacturing facility at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, to begin launch preparations in June 1997. The 22-foot long by 14-foot diameter node has six hatches like the one in which this technician is working that will connect to other Russian and U.S. station modules. The node will be launched aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in July 1998 and be docked with the already orbiting Functional Cargo Block, to be launched in June 1998 aboard a Russian rocket.