Space station gets ready for new laboratory

Astronauts at the International Space Station are preparing a new module for the arrival of the space shuttle Atlantis. The NASA spacecraft is due to be launched on 6 December and will carry the European Columbus laboratory to the ISS.

The new research facility will allow Earth based scientists and the Space Station crew to conduct thousands of experiments over the next ten years.

NASA astronauts will be working on the module for about six hours.