Shuttle Delivery in 2007 Tripled Space Station Living Volume
The arrival of the 24-foot Harmony node during STS-120 expanded the orbital outpost from a three-bedroom to a five-bedroom footprint.
By Tyler Khalil ·
A 24-foot-long module tripled the usable volume of the International Space Station when it arrived in orbit on October 23, 2007. The space shuttle Discovery carried the Harmony node to the station during the STS-120 mission. This delivery marked a major shift in the outpost's physical scale.
Harmony measures 14 feet wide and 24 feet long, roughly the length of a minibus. Before its arrival, the station resembled a three-bedroom house in size. With Harmony installed, the complex expanded to the footprint of a five-bedroom residence. The module serves as a central utility hub for the facility.
Italy-based Thales Alenia Space constructed the unit for NASA. Originally designated as Node 2, it followed the earlier Unity module. The structure contains five common berthing mechanisms that act as connection points for other components. It also features a docking port on its roof for visiting vehicles.
The module links the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory and Japan's Kibo laboratory to the rest of the station. It connects to the Columbus module on the starboard side and the Kibo lab on the port side. Harmony is permanently berthed at the forward port of NASA's Destiny laboratory.
Crew members initially attached Harmony to the Unity node. After the shuttle departed, the crew used the station's robotic arm to move the shuttle docking port. This maneuver cleared the path for Harmony to settle into its permanent position beside Destiny. The relocation took place during the roughly two-week duration of the STS-120 flight.
Inside the module, eight payload racks manage station systems. Four racks house avionics, while the other four serve as stowage or crew quarters. The American astronauts' sleeping areas are located within Harmony. NASA selected the name through a public naming contest.
The 2007 delivery ended a six-year gap in station expansion. The last new room added before Harmony was Russia's Pirs docking module in 2001. Pirs has since been discarded. Harmony provided the necessary infrastructure for future growth by creating new attachment points for additional modules.
