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Astronauts install last U.S. room on space station

Dunya News

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station gently maneuvered the final piece of the U.S. portion of the outpost into place completing a construction job that began more than 12 years ago

The final U.S. module is combination storage room and research lab. It previously was used to haul cargo to and from the station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations. The primary cargo was carried into orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery, which blasted off February 24 for its 39th and final mission.Construction of the station began on December 8, 1998. Since then, crews have added three laboratories, a living room, connecting hubs, airlocks, docking ports and a seven-sided window room called the cupola. Although the U.S. side of the station is complete, Russia plans to add a research laboratory to its section.Next month, the station is to receive its highest-profile and most expensive research instrument -- the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector, which will examine cosmic rays in hopes of proving information on how the universe was formed. It is the primary payload for the shuttle Endeavour, which is targeted for launch on April 19 on its last mission.NASA plans a final cargo run to the station in June with the shuttle Atlantis carrying a years worth of supplies. All the shuttles then will be turned over to museums. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said he expects to decide where the retired shuttles will go in April.