Dwayne C.

Brown
Headquarters, Washington, DC August 3, 1998
(Phone: 202/358-1726)

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, FL
(Phone: 407/867-2468 )

RELEASE: 98-142

"LEONARDO" ARRIVES AT NASA'S KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

"Leonardo," one of three Italian Space Agency multi-purpose

logistics modules that will be used to resupply the International
Space Station, arrived last weekend at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center, FL, on a special "Beluga" air cargo plane from the Alenia
Aerospazio factory in Turin, Italy.

Scheduled to launch aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-100)

in December 1999, "Leonardo" is a reusable logistics carrier that
will be the primary delivery system to resupply and return station
cargo requiring a pressurized environment. The cylindrical module
is approximately 21 feet long and 15 feet in diameter, weighing
almost 4.5 tons, excluding up to 20,000 pounds of contents.

The module will contain supplies, science experiments, spare

parts and components for the International Space Station. Once
Endeavour is in orbit, the module will be removed from the payload
bay and docked to the space station using the remote manipulator
arm of either the orbiter or the station. During each multi-
purpose logistics module mission, supplies and scientific
experiments will be exchanged for items to be returned to Earth,
including completed experiments, equipment for repair, or trash
and recyclables.

"Leonardo" is being processed at Kennedy's Space Station

Processing Facility with engineering support from the Italian
Space Agency, Alenia Aerospazio and Boeing. Among the activities
necessary for the payload test team to prepare the module for
launch are integrated electrical tests with other station elements
in the facility, leak tests, electrical and software compatibility
tests with the Space Shuttle using the Cargo Integrated Test
Equipment, and an Interface Verification Test once the module is
installed in the Space
Shuttle's payload bay at the launch pad. NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, provided the module's hardware
development engineering oversight.

The most significant mechanical task to be performed on

"Leonardo" in Kennedy's facility is the installation and
outfitting of the racks for carrying the various experiments and
cargo. The module will provide interfaces for up to 16 racks,
five of which also furnish power, data and fluid support to a
refrigerator freezer. The racks will be installed into the module
using an efficient piece of robotic equipment called the "Rack
Insertion Device." This device was developed by Kennedy engineers
for fast and easy installation and removal of the racks for rapid
turnaround of the logistics module between missions.

"Leonardo" is the first of three modules to be furnished to

the International Space Station program by the Italian Space
Agency. "Raffaello" is scheduled to arrive at Kennedy next year
and "Donatello" in 2001.

-end-