Columbus on the launch pad

From inside the payload changeout room on Launch Pad 39A, the Columbus Laboratory module is being moved into space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the rotating service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into the orbiter payload bay. The lab module, built by the European Space Agency, also known as ESA, is approximately 23 feet long and 15 feet wide, allowing it to hold 10 large racks of experiments.

Inside the payload changeout room on Launch Pad 39A, a technician monitors the progress of the Columbus Laboratory module as it is transferred into space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the rotating service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into the orbiter payload bay.

The inside of Atlantis' payload bay can be seen from inside the payload changeout room. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the rotating service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into the orbiter payload bay. At the top of the photo is the orbital docking system. At bottom is the integrated cargo carrier - lite, holding three elements: a nitrogen tank assembly that is part of the external active thermal control system on the International Space Station, the European technology Exposure Facility composed of nine science instruments and an autonomous temperature measurement unit, and the SOLAR payload designed for sun observation.

The integrated cargo carrier - lite is being transferred to space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay from the payload changeout room on Launch Pad 39A. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the rotating service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into the orbiter payload bay.

In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the integrated cargo carrier-lite, or ICC-L, is ready to be lifted and placed in the payload canister for mission STS-122. Joining the primary payload, the Columbus module, the ICC-L is an unpressurized crossbay carrier providing launch and return transportation with the space shuttle. It rests on a keel yoke assembly, seen underneath. The ICC-L carries three elements: a nitrogen tank assembly that is part of the external active thermal control system on the International Space Station, the European technology Exposure Facility composed of nine science instruments and an autonomous temperature measurement unit, and the SOLAR payload designed for sun observation.

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Columbus on the launch pad