International Space Station (ISS)

Lining the walls of the Space Station Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) are the launch awaiting U.S. Node 2 (lower left). and the first pressurized module of the Japanese Experimental Module (JEM) (upper right), named "Kibo" (Hope). Node 2, the "utility hub" and second of three connectors between International Space Station (ISS) modules, was built in the Torino, Italy facility of Alenia Spazio, an International contractor based in Rome. Japan's major contribution to the station, the JEM, was built by the Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) at the Tsukuba Space Center near Tokyo and will expand research capabilities aboard the station. Both were part of an agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Node 2 will be the next pressurized module installed on the Station. Once the Japanese and European laboratories are attached to it, the resulting roomier Station will expand from the equivalent space of a 3-bedroom house to a 5-bedroom house. The Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama manages the Node program for NASA.