At a ceremony today at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Tranquillity Node was transferred from European Space Agency to NASA, bringing extra living and working space one step closer to astronauts on board the International Space Station. Tranquility Node and Cupola, developed by Thales Alenia Space, continue their path towards their scheduled delivery to the space station early next year.
Photo on right: Cupola
Luigi Pasquali, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italy, confirms: “It makes me very proud to be able to say that Thales Alenia Space plays such a key international role in the ambitious Space Station project. Our company has developed more than 50 percent of the pressurized elements, the living spaces of this orbiting complex. Thales Alenia Space is proud to be one of the major international industrial players involved in the development of orbiting infrastructures and space return and transport systems.”
Along with Node 3 , the Cupola will also join the Space Station onboard Endeavour’s STS-130 Mission. Cupola, which was also developed by Thales Alenia Space, is a technological, robotized control room, which will allow the astronauts to see and work through seven windows, looking out 360 degrees around the International Space Station.
(Photo on left: Node 3)
The Nodes are key elements of the International Space Station’s architecture. They enable the interconnection and management of the various pressurized modules. Two out of three were designed and built by Thales Alenia Space in Italy for the European Space Agency: Node 2 Harmony, and its twin Node 3 Tranquillity.
Node 3 will help complete and extend the Station, also providing it with far more advanced functions: water recycling and oxygen regeneration, thereby revitalizing the air and removing toxic substances, monitoring and measuring all elements. Tranquillity will house the Cupola and provide further docks for future space vehicles.
Thales Alenia Space is also in charge of the provision of the necessary support to NASA for final checks and launch preparation. These activities are set to continue throughout all stages of the next mission and are provided by ALTEC, a company set up jointly by Thales Alenia Space, the Italian Space Agency and public entities from Italy’s Piedmont region.
In Turin, the company has also developed many important elements for the International Space Station. Apart from Node 2, Node 3 and the Cupola, Thales Alenia Space is also prime contractor for the three pressurized Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (MPLM): Leonardo, Raffaello and Donatello. The company is also one of the main developers of the scientific laboratory Columbus and of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). It is indeed thanks to these successes that Thales Alenia Space has recently been awarded an important NASA contract for Orbital Sciences, for the design and development of nine pressurized modules under the scope of the Commercial Resupply Services program.
