KSC-98pc311

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Seen at the right of the photograph, the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3), an element of the STS-92 mission scheduled for launch aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis in January 1999, awaits processing in KSC's Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF). While in orbit, PMA-3 will be removed from the orbiter's payload bay by the astronauts using the remote manipulator arm and mated to Node 1, a connecting passageway to the living and working areas of the International Space Station. The primary purpose of PMA-3 is to serve as a Shuttle docking port through which crew members and equipment will transfer to the International Space Station during later assembly missions