At the Shuttle Landing Facility, the European Space Agency's research laboratory, designated Columbus, slides out onto an Airbus Transport International platform that will lower it to the ground. The module will then be lifted onto a flat bed truck and transported to the Space Station Processing Facility. There the module will be prepared for delivery to the International Space Station on a future space shuttle mission. Columbus will expand the research facilities of the station and provide researchers with the ability to conduct numerous experiments in the area of life, physical and materials sciences. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann