JEM Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section

In the Space Station Processing Facility, an overhead crane moves the JEM Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section toward a scale (at left) for weight and center-of-gravity measurements. The module will then be moved to a work stand. The logistics module is one of the components of the Japanese Experiment Module or JEM, also known as Kibo, which means "hope" in Japanese. Kibo comprises six components: two research facilities -- the Pressurized Module and Exposed Facility; a Logistics Module attached to each of them; a Remote Manipulator System; and an Inter-Orbit Communication System unit. Kibo also has a scientific airlock through which experiments are transferred and exposed to the external environment of space. Kibo is Japan's first human space facility and its primary contribution to the station. Kibo will enhance the unique research capabilities of the orbiting complex by providing an additional environment in which astronauts can conduct science experiments. The various components of JEM will be assembled in space over the course of three Space Shuttle missions. The first of those three missions, STS-123, will carry the Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, targeted for launch in 2007.