A very common question that I am asked is what is STS-130's primary mission? Our crew will be bringing two very critical and important modules to the International Space Station, the first being Tranquility, which is a cylinder shaped life-support module. Tranquility is the size of a small bus and weighs about 30,000 lbs and once attached, it will house sleeping quarters, the exercise equipment, the water reclamation system and 8 racks full of various supplies. In fact, STS-131 will be bringing up close to 30,000 lbs of equipment to store on Tranquility. The second piece he will be carrying is called the Cupola, or as I like to call it, the Big Bay Window. The cupola is actually 7 windows arranged in a hexagon shape which together will offer the most amazing view of the Earth that we could ever imagine. Our patch was designed in the shape of the cupola. As I watched Terry's interview the other night, he talked about operating the robotic arm and picking up Tranquility, which is the size of a bus if you remember, and moving it out of the shuttle cargo bay with inches of clearance on either side and then swinging it past the ISS radiators to attach to the station. Whew, talk about a day's work! A final word about their mission, our two modules are the last major components of the station, so once Tranquility and the Cupola have been attached, the Space Station will reach its final configuration. I'm so excited to think that Terry and the crew will complete one of the great engineering feats of our generation. What a blessing God has given us!
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