After the first spacewalk was successfully completed, the shuttle and station crews will open the newly installed Japanese laboratory Kibo for business today. Hatch opening is planned for 4:52 p.m. EDT. The experiment module was installed on the Harmony Node’s port side.

The JPM will be the largest pressurized module on the station. The module is cylindrical in shape and is 11.2 meters (36.7 feet) long and 4.4 meters (14.4 feet) in diameter, about the size of a large tour bus. The JPM has a total mass (when fully assembled) of 15.9 tons. Up to 23 racks (10 of which are international standard payload racks) can be accommodated inside the JPM.

The JPM is primarily equipped with station common hardware. Two grapple fixtures are mounted on the external surface to allow the space station’s robotic arm to grapple and move the JPM. An Active CBM is provided on the zenith side of the module for attaching the JLM. The JPM has a small scientific airlock through which exposed experiments, or orbital  replacement units (ORUs), can be transferred between the Kibo pressurized and  unpressurized facilities.

Kibo’s robotic arm is fixed at the upper side of the JPM endcone.  The JPM has an 8-rack equivalent length, but the presence of the JEM airlock and the CBM hatch for access to the JLM limits rack installation.  For each of the four walls inside the JPM, with the exception of the zenith wall, six racks can be installed in a continuous row.  The zenith wall will hold five racks in a row.

The JPM is equipped with two windows, located just above the JEM airlock. The crew can clearly see the Kibo unpressurized facilities through these windows.  The crew also willbe able to observe and monitor the unpressurized facilities with external television cameras mounted on  the JPM.

 After a leak check, mission specialists Karen Nyberg and Akihiko Hoshide will prepare Kibo for activation before opening the hatches. Shortly after entering Kibo with Hoshide, Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov will sample the air and test for contamination. They will wear protective goggles and masks until they are sure the Japanese lab’s air is clean.

Mission Specialists Mike Fossum and Ron Garan will review procedures for their second spacewalk and sleep in the U.S. Quest airlock tonight to purge the nitrogen from their bodies. During Thursday’s spacewalk, the second of the mission, the spacewalkers will outfit the new lab and prepare the Japanese logistics module for relocation.

Also, the space station crew also will replace hardware in their toilet system with new equipment that was launched on Discovery.