Harmony Module

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Harmony in the Space Station Processing Facility, awaiting launch. (NASA)

Harmony (previously known as Node 2) is the "utility hub" of the International Space Station, containing four racks that provide electrical power and data. When Harmony has been installed NASA will deem the station to be "U.S. Core Complete." This work is scheduled to be finished in 2007.

Node 2 was named Harmony in March 2007.^[1] The name was chosen from an academic competition involving more than 2,200 kindergarten through high school students from 32 states. The Node 2 Challenge required students to learn about the space station, build a scale model and write an essay explaining their proposed name for the module, which will serve as a central hub for science labs.

Weighing approximately 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg), Harmony is the second of three connectors between the major ISS modules. Harmony is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Its deployment will help make the Space Station roomier, allowing it to expand from the size of a three-bedroom house to the space equivalent of a typical five-bedroom house, once the Japanese Kibō and European Columbus laboratories are attached. The Space Station robotic arm, Canadarm2, can operate from a powered grapple fixture on the exterior of Harmony.^[2] The node measures 7.2 meters (23.6 ft) in length and has a diameter of 4.4 meters (14.4 ft).

1 Agreement process
2 Launch
3 Connecting modules
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] Agreement process

Harmony under assembly. (NASA)

In an agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency, Italian company Alenia Spazio, based in Rome, built Node 2 at its facility in Torino, Italy.^[2] Node 2 arrived on June 1, 2003 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida after its flight in an Airbus Beluga heavy lift vehicle. Following post transportation inspection, the Italian Space Agency formally handed over Node 2 to the European Space Agency (ESA). From there, ESA formally transferred ownership of Node 2 to NASA on June 18, 2003, taking place in the Space Station Processing Facility of the Kennedy Space Center. ^[3] The handover of Node 2 completes a major element of the barter agreement between ESA and NASA signed in Turin on October 8, 1997. ^[4]

[edit] Launch

Harmony is scheduled to be launched August 26th, 2007 aboard STS-120, as the primary component of assembly mission ISS-10A. The SSRMS will remove Harmony from the shuttle cargo bay and temporarily attach it to the port dock of Unity. After the space shuttle departs, 3 stage EVA's performed by the onboard Expedition crew will help relocate Harmony to the forward dock of Destiny.^[5]^[6] The Pressurized Mating Adapter which currently occupies Destiny's forward berth, PMA-2, will be moved to the forward berth of Harmony.

Paolo A. Nespoli, an ESA astronaut born in Milan, Italy, will accompany the Harmony module aboard STS-120 as a mission specialist.

[edit] Connecting modules

After its arrival at the station, Harmony will be connected to the forward hatch of Destiny. Later, ESA's Columbus laboratory will be attached to the starboard hatch of the Harmony Node 2 module. Later still, the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) will be attached to the port hatch of Harmony. The Multipurpose Logistics Modules will also be attached to the nadir port of Harmony.^[7]