International Space Station (ISS)

STS-102 mission astronauts James S. Voss and James D. Weatherbee share a congratulatory handshake as the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery successfully docks with the International Space Station (ISS). Photographed from left to right are: Astronauts Susan J. Helms, mission specialist; James S. Voss, Expedition 2 crew member; James D. Weatherbee, mission commander; Andrew S.W. Thomas, mission specialist; and nearly out of frame is James M. Kelley, Pilot. Launched March 8, 2001, STS-102's primary cargo was the Leonardo, the Italian Space Agency-built Multipurpose Logistics Module (MPLM). The Leonardo MPLM is the first of three such pressurized modules that will serve as ISS' moving vans, carrying laboratory racks filled with equipment, experiments, and supplies to and from the Station aboard the Space Shuttle. The cylindrical module is approximately 21-feet long and 15- feet in diameter, weighing almost 4.5 tons. It can carry up to 10 tons of cargo in 16 standard Space Station equipment racks. Of the 16 racks the module can carry, 5 can be furnished with power, data, and fluid to support refrigerators or freezers. In order to function as an attached station module as well as a cargo transport, the logistics module also includes components that provide life support, fire detection and suppression, electrical distribution, and computer functions. NASA's 103rd overall mission and the 8th Space Station Assembly Flight, STS-102 mission also served as a crew rotation flight. It delivered the Expedition Two crew to the Station and returned the Expedition One crew back to Earth.