KSC-2010-2729

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the payload canister containing the primary payloads for the STS-132 mission, standing vertically on a transporter, travels past the Vehicle Assembly Building on its way at Launch Pad 39A. Once at the pad, the canister will be lifted into the payload changout room. Located on the pad's rotating service structure, the room is an enclosed, environmentally controlled area that supports payload delivery and servicing at the pad and mates to the shuttle's cargo bay for vertical payload installation. The payloads secured inside the canister include an Integrated Cargo Carrier, or ICC, and the Russian-built Mini-Research Module-1, or MRM-1, which will be delivered to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Atlantis. The ICC is an unpressurized flat bed pallet and keel yoke assembly used to support the transfer of exterior cargo from the shuttle to the space station. The MRM-1, known as Rassvet, is the second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia and will be permanently attached to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya control module. Rassvet, which translates to 'dawn,' will be used for cargo storage and will provide an additional docking port to the station. STS-132 is the 34th mission to the station and the 132nd shuttle mission overall. Launch is targeted for May 14. For information on the STS-132 mission, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts132_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jack Pfaller