Preparations are under way to pack the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill or COLBERT for launch to the International Space Station.

In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are under way to pack the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or COLBERT, for launch to the International Space Station on the space shuttle Discovery STS-128 mission. The treadmill is named after comedian Stephen Colbert, the host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.” Colbert urged his viewers to suggest the name “Colbert” as the name for the station’s Node 3 module. Although his name did receive the most entries in an Internet polling contest, NASA chose the name “Tranquility” to honor the accomplishments of the Apollo 11 mission. COLBERT will be installed in Tranquility after the node arrives at the station next year. Launch of STS-128 is targeted for Aug. 6, 2009. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller