Astronauts Open Tranquility, Cupola For Business

The joined crews of shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station cut the ribbon on the U.S. Tranquility module and the Italian Cupola observation deck tonight, capping major construction of the U.S. side of the outpost after more than 11 years of assembly.

NASA astronaut Hal Getzelman, watching on from the Mission Control Center in Houston, equated the moment to some of the greatest milestones in the history of human engineering.

"We weren't there at Promontory, Utah, to drive in the final spike at the Intercontinental Railroad. And none of us were able to be there when they switched on the dynamos at the Hoover Dam, and we weren't around when they topped out the steel on the Empire State Building," Getzelman said.

"But I think I speak for the whole flight control team in Houston, and the flight control teams around the world, that we're really pleased to have been working the past two weeks when we attached the final module to the U.S. segment of the one-million-pound space station that was built by thousands of people around the world. So we only wish that we could be up there with you now."

Station commander Jeffrey Williams presided over the ceremony and visiting shuttle mission commander George Zamka cut a red ribbon stretch across the threshold to the Earth-facing Cupola module, which features seven large windows and affords a 360-degree view outside the station.

One by one, each of the 11 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the international outpost took a moment to dive down into the Italian-made alcove and peer out at the unparalleled view of the blue orb Earth below them.

"We share those sentiments as well, Hal. Our gratitude, our tremendous gratitude goes out to the entire international partnership, and the teams, like you said, from around the world, that made this thing possible. It's something that's a very unique part of history and we all are very honored to be a part of it," Williams said.

"Congratulations on being part of this history in the making."

Williams dedicated the Cupola to the late Charles Lacy Veach, an astronaut who played a key role in the early development of the Cupola module but died of cancer in Houston in 1995. Veach's NASA identification badge and a photo of the veteran astronaut, who was selected to the corps in 1984 and flew on STS-39 and STS-52, are being put up in the station.

Zamka also presented a plaque that holds moon rocks retrieved from the Sea of Tranquility by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during the historic Apollo 11 moon-landing mission in July 1969.

Former astronaut Scott Parazynski, who flew with Zamka on the STS-120 mission in October 2007, carried the moon rocks to the top of Mount Everest and then brought them back down so they could be flown to the station on this STS-130 mission.

It was a moment Endeavour mission specialist Steve Robinson looked forward to prior to the mission.

"Imagine being there in the Cupola, and looking out of this huge series of windows and looking at the moon, and having a piece of the moon right next to you," he said.

"What's that going to be like? I have no idea. I'll come back and tell you."