Avionews:Space: The two elements, both built in Italy, will be docked to the Station in February

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Two more pieces of Europe, and of Italy in particular, are getting ready to join the ISS (International Space Station). Twelve years of design, development and hard work came to fruition with the formal handover of Node 3 from ESA to NASA on 20 November. The ceremony took place in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. The handover completed the final major element of the barter agreement between ESA and NASA signed in Turin (Italy) on 8 October 1997 under which ESA provided Nodes 2 and 3 plus additional equipment and knowhow in return for transportation of the European Columbus Laboratory to the ISS by Space Shuttle.