KSC-01pp0872

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Members of the STS-104 crew look over equipment inside the equipment lock component of the Joint Airlock Module. At left is Mission Specialist Janet L. Kavandi, and at right Pilot Charles O. Hobaugh. The crew is at KSC to take part in Crew Equipment Interface Test activities. The mission 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 also comprises a crew 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 augment the resupply system for the Station’s Service Module