Space Station becomes a 'home'

Astronauts moved about two tonnes of equipment

The International Space Station (ISS) has been fully fitted with equipment in readiness for the planned arrival of its first permanent residents in early November.

The Atlantis crew have been impressed by the size of Zvezda

The seven-member crew of the Atlantis space shuttle loaded the ISS with about two tonnes of equipment, including a treadmill that astronauts can use for exercise during their long stays in space.

Astronauts must exercise while in orbit to prevent their muscles from wasting away in the micro-gravity environment.

Flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center said the Atlantis crew would later on Saturday begin shutting the 12 hatches that separate different elements of the ISS.

The task should be completed around 1300 GMT on Sunday before the Atlantis departs the following night to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday.

Home from home

The central part of the embryonic ISS is the Russian-built Zvezda module launched in July.

The fully fitted ISS will receive its first permanent crew in November

The 19-tonne unit, which measures 13 metres in length, more than 10 portholes, a kitchen and individual "bedrooms" where the astronauts can sleep.

The Atlantis crew installed a lavatory and batteries on Zvezda, and stored clothes, first-aid kits, computers, vacuum cleaners, rubbish bags and drinking water the module's future residents.

Work on the exterior of Zvezda included plugging the module into the space station's electrical circuits, closed circuit TV and computer network.

This Atlantis trip marks the 99th mission by a space shuttle.

The first residents on the ISS will be US astronaut Bill Shepherd, and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. They will inhabit the station for four months.

The ISS, a joint venture involving the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, is expected to cost $60bn when completed, perhaps by 2006.