ISS update November 2006

The ISS will grow considerably in the next few years with the addition of new solar panel generators and three research labs before being completed in 2010. During his six-month stay, German ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter, a member of the permanent ISS crew since July this year, is devoting 136 hours to research experiments. Another ESA astronaut, Christer Fuglesang, from Sweden, is training at NASA's Johnson Space Center, in Houston. Fuglesang will make his first mission to the Space Station in December after launch on board Space Shuttle mission STS-116. During the twelve-day mission, Fuglesang will contribute to Station assembly by taking part in two spacewalks. The Columbus laboratory is Europe's main contribution to the ISS. ESA German astronaut Hans Schlegel will be on the Space Shuttle mission that will attach Columbus to the ISS. But before the laboratory can be attached, in August 2007 another ESA astronaut, the Italian Paolo Nespoli, will deliver Node-2, an important building block for the further expansion of the Station. Another major European contribution to the ISS is the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), due for launch in December 2007. It will carry 8.5 tonnes of cargo to the ISS, including food, air and water for the crew.ESApod video programme