Inside the Space Station Processing Facility an element for the International Space Station awaits testing.

Inside the Space Station Processing Facility, the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3), an element for the International Space Station, awaits testing. The PMA-3, once launched, will be mated to Node 1, a connecting passageway to the living and working areas of the 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 Space Station during later assembly missions. PMA-3 is scheduled as payload on mission STS-92, whose date for launch is not yet determined