Alan Poindexter and Mission Specialists Rex Walheim and Stanley Love practice working with equipment for the mission.

In the Orbiter Processing Facility, STS-122 Pilot Alan Poindexter and Mission Specialists Rex Walheim and Stanley Love practice working with equipment for the mission. The crew is at Kennedy Space Center to take part in a crew equipment interface test, which includes equipment familiarization. The mission will carry and install the Columbus Lab, a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. It is Europe’s largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station and will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. STS-122 is targeted for launch in December. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett