Tranquility module, Colbert treadmill: Names for space station components

Space Station Tranquility module is finally the chosen name. NASA announced on Wednesday that the new module on the international space station (ISS) will be named Tranquility module, after the Sea of Tranquility where Apollo 11 landed on the moon for the first time.

The name Tranquility for the node was a disappointment for the many fans of Colbert report who voted for Stephen Colbert, who hosts the comic show.

Nasa astronaut Sunita Williams from India made the announcement. Why Tranquility and not Stephen Colbert, who was No.1 in the viewers’ poll? Nasa says that it doesn’t name space station modules after living people. But Stephen Colbert has some relief: Nasa said it will name an astronauts’ treadmill in ISS Tranquility module after Stephen Colbert. The space station Tranquility module’s treadmill will be called COLBERT, short for Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill.

Sunita Williams said on TV that the Colbert treadmill will be very important for astronauts, since astronauts have to take regular physical exercise to prevent loss of strength of bones in zero gravity space. Stephen Colbert has been invited to the Nasa premises in Florida to test a version of the COLBERT treadmill which will go into the international space station’s Tranquility module.

A million responses had poured into the poll to name the new node on the space station, which has now been named Tranquility. The poll was called “Help Name Node 3″ poll. “Apollo 11 landed on the moon at the Sea of Tranquility 40 years ago this July. We selected ‘Tranquility’ because it ties it to exploration and the moon and symbolizes the spirit of international cooperation embodied by the space station,” Nasa said.

Though Nasa chose Tranquility to name its ISS module, the name was only 8th in the poll. The Sea of Tranquility was chosen by Nasa to land its lunar landing vehicle in 1969 because the surface was smooth and promised no glitches.
Tranquility is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the space station’s life support systems. Attached to the node is a cupola, which is a unique work station with six windows on the sides and one on top. Tranquility is targeted for launch in late 2009. However, the Colbert treadmill will be delivered to the international space station this August itself. Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-180 will carry the treadmill to the space station.
The Tranquility space module comes to Florida in May. There, it will be prepared for space shuttle Endeavour’s flight, designated STS-130, which is targeted for launch in February 2010.