NASA Invites Reporters to Tranquility Node Ceremony at Kennedy

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WASHINGTON -- The European Space Agency, or ESA, will transfer
ownership of the Tranquility node to NASA on Thursday, Nov. 19.
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will host a commemorative
ceremony at 3 p.m. EST.

Tranquility is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of
the station's life support systems. Attached to the node is a cupola,
a unique work station with windows on its six sides and top. The
module will be delivered to the station during space shuttle
Endeavour's STS-130 mission, targeted for launch Feb. 4, 2010.

Tranquility is the last element of a barter agreement for station
hardware. ESA contributed the node in exchange for NASA's delivery of
ESA's Columbus laboratory to the station. Thales Alenia Space in
Turin, Italy, built the module.

NASA, ESA, Thales and Boeing managers involved in building and
processing the node for flight will be available for a
question-and-answer session after the ceremony. Media representatives
planning to attend must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 2 p.m. for
transportation to the Space Station Processing Facility. Participants
must be dressed in full-length pants, flat shoes that entirely cover
the feet, and shirts with sleeves.

Reporters without permanent Kennedy credentials should submit a
request online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

Foreign journalists must apply for credentials by 4:30 p.m., Nov. 4,
and U.S. reporters must apply by 4:30 p.m., Nov. 17. For more
information on the space station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station