Node 1, the first element of the International Space Station to be manufactured in the United States and the first to be launched on the Space Shuttle, is unloaded in its container from an Air Force C-5 jet cargo transport at Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Shuttle Landing Facility runway on June 23, 1997, after its arrival from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The module was then transported to the Space Station Processing Facility. The Node 1 module was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-88 on December 4, 1998 along with Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMAs) 1 and 2. The 18-foot in diameter, 22-foot-long aluminum module was manufactured by the Boeing Co. at MSFC. Node 1 functions as a connecting passageway to the living and working areas of the International Space Station. It has six hatches that serve as docking ports to the U.S. laboratory module, U.S. habitation module, an airlock and other Space Station elements.

Image Number: KSC-97PC-923