Japanese lab Kibo completed at space station+

HOUSTON, July 18 Kyodo -
Astronauts completed the Japanese space laboratory Kibo at the International
Space Station on Saturday, a day after Space Shuttle Endeavour brought the last
component for the lab, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said.
The component, the Japanese Exposed Facility, was attached to Kibo using
robotic arm systems operated by astronauts including Japan's Koichi Wakata, 45,
with the support of spacewalks by other crew.
Japan has spent some 760 billion yen on the development and construction of the
Kibo laboratory, the nation's first manned space facility, since the project
was conceived 24 years ago.
Saturday's operation completed all assembly work on Kibo, which is designed to
carry out materials and life science experiments in the nongravity and vacuum
environment of space.
After a four-month mission at the station, Wakata and other crew are scheduled
to head back to Earth on July 31 at the earliest aboard Endeavour.
==Kyodo
2009-07-19 21:20:52