Students name space station module

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A new hub-like module bound for the international space station has a new name, Harmony, following a nationwide student competition held by NASA, the space agency announced Thursday.

Formerly known simply as Node 2, the Harmony module is due to launch towards the space station in late August to serve as the attachment point for new European and Japanese laboratories. NASA announced the new name during a ceremony at the agency's Kennedy Space Center spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

"This module will allow all international partner pieces of the station to connect together, so it's really wonderful that kids recognize that harmony is necessary for space cooperation," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, in a statement.

Built for NASA in Italy, the Harmony module is a 23.6-foot (seven-meter) long cylinder with a diameter of about 14.5 feet (4.4 meters). It will be attached to the end of the station's U.S. Destiny laboratory and serve as the gateway to the yet-to-launch European Columbus laboratory, Japan's Kibo laboratory and visiting pressurized cargo containers.

NASA's STS-120 astronaut crew, commanded by veteran spaceflyer Pam Melroy, is expected to haul Harmony to the station aboard the space shuttle Atlantis no earlier than Aug. 26.

More than 2,200 students in 32 states, ranging in grade from kindergarten to high school, competed in NASA's Node 2 Challenge, which called on entrants to learn about the ISS, supply a candidate name, write an essay on the suggestion, and build a scale model of the new module.

"We decided that the name for Node 2 should be Harmony because it also stands for the peaceful bond and support between all the countries in the world," the 9th Grade class at Lubbock High School in Lubbock, Texas wrote in its essay. "With this in mind, we hope that one day everyone can join hands, and cooperate to improve our society and develop space exploration, experimentation and research."

A NASA panel of spaceflight managers, researchers, engineers and educators chose Harmony "because the name symbolizes the spirit of international cooperation embodied by the space station, well as the specific role played by the module in tying together the international partner modules," the space agency said.

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