KSC-01pp0863

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-104 Mission Specialist James F. Reilly II checks out a piece of equipment. The crew is at KSC to take part in Crew Equipment Interface Test activities. Reilly will perform three spacewalks during the mission, which will carry the Joint Airlock Module to the International Space Station. The U.S.-made module will allow astronauts and cosmonauts in residence on the Station to perform future spacewalks without the presence of a Space Shuttle. The module, which comprises a crew lock and an equipment lock, will be connected to the starboard (right) side of Node 1 Unity. Atlantis will also carry oxygen and nitrogen storage tanks, vital to operation of the Joint Airlock, on a Spacelab Logistics Double Pallet in the payload bay. The tanks, to be installed on the perimeter of the Joint Module during the mission’s spacewalks, will support future spacewalk operations and experiments plus agument the resupply system for the Station’s Service Module