KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The node structural test article (STA) arrives at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility aboard the Super Guppy transport aircraft. It was moved to KSC for storage. An exact replica of the Unity Node on the International Space Station, the node STA was used at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. for testing and validation purposes. The Unity Node is the pressurized element that connects the other ISS pressurized modules together and was the first U.S. element to launch.
Location Kennedy Space Center, FL
Date October 9, 2002