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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Alan Thirkettle, International Space Station program manager for the European Space Agency (ESA), speaks at a ceremony in the Space Station Processing Facility following the delivery of ESA's Columbus module to Kennedy Space Center. Columbus is the European Space Agency's research laboratory for the International Space Station. The module will be prepared in the SSPF for delivery to the space station on a future space shuttle mission. Columbus will expand the research facilities of the station and provide researchers with the ability to conduct numerous experiments in the life, physical and materials sciences. Photo credit: NASA_Amanda Diller