''Tranquility'', also known as Node 3, is a module of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

(ISS). It contains environmental control systems, life support systems, a toilet, exercise equipment, and an observation

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

. The European Space Agency (ESA) and the

Italian Space Agency The Italian Space Agency ( it, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana; ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy. The agency cooperates with numerous national and international enti ...

(ASI) had ''Tranquility'' manufactured by Thales Alenia Space. A ceremony on 20 November 2009 transferred ownership of the module to

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

. On 8 February 2010, NASA launched the module on the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

STS-130 STS-130 ( ISS assembly flight 20A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). 's primary payloads were the ''Tranquility'' module and the ''Cupola'', a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and ...

mission.

Design and manufacturing

''Tranquility'' was built within the ESA-NASA ISS bartering system. ESA committed to build and fund both ''Harmony'' and ''Tranquility'' as well as the ATV in order to use NASA ISS facilities, fly astronauts on the Shuttle and for other ISS services. ESA teamed up with the

(ASI) to manufacture both ''Harmony'' and ''Tranquility'' at Thales Alenia Space in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The module pressure shell is constructed of 2219 aluminum and its

debris Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can refer to ...

shield is made from hardened 6061 aluminum. The metal is heat-treated, enabling it to have similar ballistics resistance to stainless steel. ''Tranquility'' provides six berthing locations with power, data and commanding, thermal and environmental control, and crew access for more attached habitable volumes or for crew transportation vehicles or stowage, or an appropriate combination of all of these. One of the berthing locations is used by the ''

Cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

'', which houses a Robotic Work Station inside it to assist in the assembly/maintenance of the ISS, and offers a window for

Earth observation Earth observation (EO) is the gathering of information about the physical, chemical, and biological systems of the planet Earth. It can be performed via remote-sensing technologies (Earth observation satellites) or through direct-contact sensors ...

s. ''Tranquility'' was launched with the ''Cupola'' attached to its port-facing

Common Berthing Mechanism The Common Mechanism (CBM) connects habitable elements in the US Orbital Segment (USOS) of the International Space Station (ISS). The CBM has two distinct sides that, once mated, form a cylindrical vestibule between modules. The vestibule is ...

(CBM). After mating ''Tranquility'' with the port CBM of ''Unity'', the ''Cupola'' was transferred to the

nadir The nadir (, ; ar, نظير, naẓīr, counterpart) is the direction pointing directly ''below'' a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface. The direc ...

facing port of ''Tranquility'' where it will stay. The module has three redundant berthing ports that were not scheduled to be used prior to the end of the Space Shuttle program, although there is a

Power Data Grapple Fixture Grapple fixtures are used on spacecraft or other objects to provide a secure connection for a robotic arm. North America The fixtures allowed the Space Shuttle's Canadarm (also known as the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, or SRMS) to safely ...

reserved for the

Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), is a two armed robot, or telemanipulator, which is part of the Mobile Servicing System on the International Space Station (ISS), and does repairs that would otherwise r ...

(

Dextre Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), is a two armed robot, or telemanipulator, which is part of the Mobile Servicing System on the International Space Station (ISS), and does repairs that would otherwise r ...

), which is located on the

zenith The zenith (, ) is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction ( plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location ( nadir). The zenith is the "high ...

berthing location. In the current ISS configuration ''Tranquility'' is docked to the port berthing location of ''Unity''. As such, the three unused berthing locations of ''Tranquility'' were disabled as the node's close proximity to other segments would prohibit the port's direct use for cargo spacecraft or using the docking module PMA-3, which was relocated from ''Harmony'' to the port berthing location of ''Tranquility'' for storage. At the time, the move of PMA-3 to the port location of ''Tranquility'' was required because NASA decided to leave the

Multi-Purpose Logistics Module A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is a large pressurized container that was used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and init ...

(MPLM) ''Leonardo'' permanently attached to the ISS, which will be located at the nadir side of ''Unity''. In 2001, NASA considered changing the design of the module. This idea for an extended or "stretched" module, was a result of the deferral/deletion of the

Habitation Module 250px, ISS Habitation module under construction in December 1997 The Habitation Module was a particular habitation module for the International Space Station was intended to be the Station's main living quarters designed with galley, toilet, sho ...

. The stretched module would have held 16 racks, compared with the baseline capacity of eight racks. This modification was not funded and the plans were abandoned.

Purpose

Waste and hygiene compartment in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station - 20090412

The module's life-support system ( ECLSS) recycles waste water for crew use and generates

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...

for the crew to breathe. In addition, ''Tranquility'' contains an atmosphere revitalization system to remove contaminants from the atmosphere and monitor/control the atmosphere constituents of the ISS. ''Tranquility'' also contains a Waste and Hygiene Compartment (toilet) for supporting the on-board crew. ''Tranquility'' is primarily used for exercise, storage, and robotics work in connection with ''Cupola''.

Launch, berthing, and connections to other station components

''Tranquility'' was located in the clean room at the Thales Alenia Space, Turin site until 2009. It was shipped to

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...

(KSC) on 17 May 2009 and arrived in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

on 20 May 2009. It was officially welcomed to KSC on 8 June 2009. ''Tranquility'' was launched on 8 February 2010 on board the

mission flown by '' Endeavour''. It was berthed to the port side of ''Unity'' on 12 February 2010. To accommodate the SpaceX

Dragon V2 Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed and manufactured by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, primarily for flights to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX has also launched private missions such as Ins ...

and

Boeing Starliner The Boeing CST-100 Starliner
is a class of two partially

Commercial Crew transports expected to be operational by 2017, ISS crews began work in March 2015 to configure the station. As part of this work,

Pressurized Mating Adapter The Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA) is a class of spacecraft adapters that convert the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) used on the US Orbital Segment to APAS-95 docking ports. There are three PMAs located on the International Space Station (I ...

-3 on the port side of ''Tranquility'' will be moved to the zenith port of the ''Harmony'' module, above Pressurized Mating Adapter-2, to serve as a backup docking port for these vehicles. In addition, on 27 May 2015 the ''Leonardo'' Permanent Multipurpose Module was moved from the nadir of ''Unity'', to the forward port side of ''Tranquility'' to free up ''Unity'' as a backup port for

Commercial Resupply Services Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) are a series of flights awarded by NASA for the delivery of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) on commercially operated spacecraft. The first CRS contracts were signed in 2008 and awarde ...

cargo spacecraft from SpaceX and

Orbital Sciences Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...

. In April 2016, as part of the cargo payload from

SpaceX CRS-8 SpaceX CRS-8, also known as SpX-8, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched on April 8, 2016, at 20:43 UTC. It was the 23rd flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, the tenth flight of a ...

, the

Bigelow Expandable Activity Module The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an experimental expandable space station module developed by Bigelow Aerospace, under contract to NASA, for testing as a temporary module on the International Space Station (ISS) from 2016 to ...

(BEAM) was attached to ''Tranquility'' on its aft port for a two-year duration. ;Port * PMA-3, 2010–2017 * Nanoracks Bishop Airlock, 2020–present ;Starboard * ''Unity'', 2010–present ;Forward * ''Leonardo'', 2015–present ;Aft *

(BEAM), 2016–present ;Nadir * ''Cupola'', 2010–present

Naming contest

NASA held an online poll to name Node 3. Users were allowed to choose from among four provided names (Earthrise, Legacy, Serenity, and Venture), or to suggest their own. In early voting, fans of the science fiction TV series '' Firefly'' boosted "Serenity", also the name of the show and film's eponymous

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

, to the top with 86%. On 3 March 2009, episode of ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...

'', host

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...

instructed his viewers to suggest "Colbert" as the name for Node 3 in the online poll. Following Colbert's call to have the node named after him, several other groups attempted to influence the vote. For example, a number of different environmental groups promoted the name "Amazonia", after the Amazon Rainforest. They argued that the name was more appropriate given that Node 3 will include the station's environmental control systems. Humorist Dave Barry urged readers of his blog to name the node "Buddy", which finished as the sixth most popular user-suggested name.

Gaia Online Gaia Online is an English-language, anime-themed social networking and forums-based website with Chibi-style animations. It was founded as go-gaia on February 18, 2003, by Derek Liu, Long Vo, Josh Gainsbrugh, and the name was changed to GaiaOn ...

asked its users to "Send Gaia to Space" by naming the node " Gaia", referring to the Greek goddess of the planet

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

, and "Gaia" finished third among the user-suggested names. Other popular user suggestions included " myYearbook", " SocialVibe", "

Ubuntu Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: '' Desktop'', ''Server'', and ''Core'' for Internet of things devices and robots. All ...

", and the name of

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...

's galactic overlord: "

Xenu Xenu (), also called Xemu, is a figure in the Church of Scientology's secret "Advanced Technology", a sacred and esoteric teaching. According to the "Technology", Xenu was the extraterrestrial ruler of a "Galactic Confederacy" who brought bil ...

". "Serenity" was the top choice among the NASA-provided names, with 70% of the vote, but finished second overall, losing to "Colbert" by more than 40,000 votes. The naming contest rules, however, state that although the poll results will be taken into account, NASA has ultimate discretion in choosing an appropriate name for the node. On 6 April 2009, Stephen Colbert, in jest, threatened a lawsuit if the node was not named after him. In addition,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Congressman

Chaka Fattah Chaka Fattah (born Arthur Davenport; November 21, 1956) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House for from 1995 to 2016. The district included portions of North Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, and West P ...

stated that he believes that paying attention to democracy and voting results should not be limited to earthbound organizations so he planned to use congressional power to force NASA to honor the winning Colbert write-in votes. On 14 April 2009, astronaut

Sunita Williams Sunita Lyn Williams (born September 19, 1965) is an American astronaut and United States Navy officer who formerly held the records for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time for a woman (50 hours, 40 minutes). Williams was ...

appeared on ''The Colbert Report'', and announced the name of the node would be ''Tranquility''. The name was chosen in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the first lunar landing of

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...

on the Sea of Tranquility. However, the

treadmill A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type o ...

the astronauts use for exercise has been named "C.O.L.B.E.R.T." for "Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill" and is located in ''Tranquility''. Colbert was thrilled and happily accepted this offer. The treadmill traveled to space aboard

mission

STS-128 STS-128 (ISS assembly flight 17A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) that launched on August 28, 2009. carried the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module ''Leonardo'' as its primary payload. ''Leonardo'' contain ...

on 28 August 2009, for eventual installation in the ''Tranquility'' node during

Image gallery

Image:Tranquility-node3-move.JPG, ''Tranquility'' during its move from ''Endeavour'' to the install position on the ''Unity'' node. Image:STS-130 relocation of Cupola 2.jpg, ''Cupola'' just after installation at Earth-facing port on ''Tranquility''. Image:Tranquility-node3.JPG, ''Tranquility'' with ''Cupola'' attached. File:STS-130 PMA-3 relocation 3.jpg, PMA-3 is moved to the end of ''Tranquility''. ''Cupola'' is seen on top with its protective launch cover still attached. File:STS-130 EVA3 Nicholas Patrick iss022e066872 full view crop.jpg, Astronaut Nicholas Patrick hanging on to ''Cupola'' after insulation has been removed. File:Tranquility from departing STS-130.jpg, ''Tranquility'' seen top left corner with ''Cupola'' and PMA-3.

References

External links

Node 3 specifications from the ESA

Thales Alenia Space page for Node 3
{{The Colbert Report Spacecraft launched in 2010 Components of the International Space Station