STS-124: Installing and Activating Kibo’s Main Module in 2008

At 21:02:12 UTC on May 31, 2008, the space shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A on STS-124, designated 1J in the International Space Station assembly sequence. The second of three principal flights assembling Japan’s Kibo laboratory, it delivered the Pressurized Module and robotic arm to join the storage module already aboard the station.

Commander Mark Kelly and pilot Kenneth Ham flew with Karen Nyberg, Ronald Garan, Michael Fossum, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and Gregory Chamitoff. Teams at NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency coordinated assembly, station operations, and ground control. The mission also rotated long-duration crew members, with Chamitoff replacing Garrett Reisman.

References: [3] [4]

Kibo’s Pressurized Module measured 11.2 meters long and 4.4 meters in diameter and had a launch mass of about 14.8 tonnes. It accommodated 23 racks, including ten positions for International Standard Payload Racks. The size and mass of the complete Kibo complex exceeded a single shuttle’s capacity. Even the main module could not be launched with all its equipment installed in its final position, so STS-123 had already carried some system and experiment racks in the storage module.

These included the SAIBO cell experiment rack and the RYUTAI fluid experiment rack. SAIBO provided cell culture and clean-handling equipment, with a centrifuge to establish gravity controls. RYUTAI housed equipment for fluid physics, solutions, and protein crystal growth. Installation and wiring during STS-124 connected this previously delivered equipment to the main module’s power, environmental control, and data systems.

References: [1] [2] [4]

Discovery contacted the station at 18:03:20 UTC on June 2 and then completed hard docking. On June 3, Fossum and Garan released external launch restraints and connections. Hoshide and Nyberg operated the station’s robotic arm to move the main module from the payload bay to Harmony’s port side. Installation was completed at 23:42 that day, the morning of June 4 in Japan.

After securing the module, the crew connected lines and activated systems. At 19:51 UTC on June 4, Tsukuba Space Center sent its first command to Kibo. The hatch opened at 21:05, followed by crew entry. The storage module, temporarily attached to Harmony’s zenith port, was moved to the top of Kibo’s main module, and eight racks were transferred into the new laboratory. Ground control, rack configuration, and module connections formed an operating system.

References: [3] [4]

Fossum and Garan completed three spacewalks on June 3, 5, and 8, totaling twenty hours and thirty-two minutes. Alongside preparations to install Kibo and configure its external cameras, they replaced a station nitrogen tank, repaired an external camera, and inspected a solar-array rotary joint. Images and particle samples from the joint supported further analysis of its condition on the ground.

Kibo’s long robotic arm was released from its restraints, partially deployed, and then fully deployed before its joint brakes were tested. Air entered a cooling-water line during activation; the orbital crew and American and Japanese ground teams addressed it by adjusting flow and coordinating their work. A fan subsequently stopped after a moisture detector was triggered and was restarted after adjustments. Deployment, activation, and troubleshooting together tested the new equipment in orbit.

References: [3] [4]

The large module occupied payload-bay space, so Discovery launched without its usual sensor boom for thermal protection inspections. The preceding mission had left the boom on the station, and spacewalkers retrieved it. Discovery first used robotic-arm cameras and images taken as it approached the station. After undocking, the complete boom system inspected the wing leading edges and nose, clearing the orbiter for return.

Discovery undocked at approximately 11:42 UTC on June 11 and landed on Kennedy Space Center’s runway 15 at about 15:15 UTC on June 14. Its flight lasted roughly thirteen days and eighteen hours and covered 217 orbits. Reisman returned aboard the shuttle and Chamitoff remained on the station. Kibo’s main pressurized facilities and ground-control capability were established; its external experiment platform awaited delivery on a later assembly flight.

References: [1] [3] [4] [5]