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Houston: Japan's space lab is now open for business, science - and art.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station floated into the lab module on Wednesday after power was activated, kick-starting Japan's permanent place in space.
Kibo, which means "hope", was delivered by the shuttle Discovery, which blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Saturday for a two-week mission that includes a plumbing call to fix the sole toilet aboard the orbital outpost.
"The Kibo module is now open," Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide said, holding a sign saying "Welcome" in English and Japanese. Hoshide then floated in with his crewmates.
After the grand opening, the astronauts got to work outfitting the bus-sized lab, installing the first of its racks. A total of 23 racks will eventually be installed, 10 of them devoted to science experiments.
Kibo is the centrepiece of this mission, making the $100 billion (Dh367 billion) station and the scientific experiments conducted on it a global effort in space.
Pride over the Japanese lab was running high on the streets of Tokyo.
"It's amazing," said Takeshi Nakamura, 57, who works for a trading firm. "When we look at it, it doesn't look so hard because it's so technically advanced."
Others spoke of heroes and inspiring the young, but Koichi Urano, 43, said Japan should be more self-sufficient in space.
"It's an achievement but Japan should be able to go up in rockets of our own, so that we don't have to rely on Russia or the US," said Urano, who works at an architecture firm.
Numbers
Kibo, shaped like a cylinder, is the largest of the space station's labs at about 11 metres long and 4.6 metres in diameter.
Weighing some 32,000 pounds (14,520 kg), the lab is so big it needs three shuttle flights for launch and assembly. The current mission is the second devoted to it.
Areas of research undertaken will include materials sciences, fluid physics and biomedicine. Kibo will also have a cultural flavour and host activities like art and dance.
There are plans for a "space garden" based on a traditional and intricate Japanese gardening pattern. Each art experiment will be the brainchild of a Japanese artist.
During the mission's second spacewalk scheduled for yesterday, astronauts Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan were to begin the external outfitting of Kibo, including two cameras to judge clearances and spacing for the module's robotic arm.
Earlier on Wednesday, cosmonaut-plumber Oleg Kononenko, a member of the space station crew, tackled the critical job of fixing the toilet with apparently successful results.
Kibo's launch had been on hold for years because of delays to the construction of the station. NASA has just two years to complete assembly before the shuttle fleet's retirement.
Seven construction missions and two resupply flights are pending.
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