New Russian Docking Port Lifted From Shuttle Cargo Bay

The prime payload for the Atlantis mission to the International Space Station is out of the shuttle's cargo bay and on its way to a berthing port on the Russian side of the outpost.

The Mini-Research Lab 1 is dubbed Rassvet, the Russian word for "dawn." It was hoisted out of the shuttle's cargo bay with the 50-foot robot arm of Atlantis by mission specialist Piers Sellers.

Crewmate Garrett Reisman, who is operating the station's 57.5-foot robot arm, grappled the module at 6:14 a.m. as the joined shuttle-station complex flew 220 miles above the planet.

The Rassvet will serve as a fourth docking port for Soyuz crew transport and robotic Progress space freighters. It is headed for a mooring on the Earth-facing side of the Russian space tug Zarya, which is the Russian word for "sunrise,"