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The need to validate through an in-flight experience the re-entry systems and technologies and their strategic value in the field of space transportation and exploration future mission, led in Europe in the past years to design and develop several experimental vehicles in the frame of National and ESA programs. In this context, the Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP) has been conceived by the ESA Member States to collect and harmonize the know-how gained by the European Space Community and to direct the technical effort and the necessary funds relevant to this matter on the development and the manufacturing of an European Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV), a re-entry demonstrator, to be launched at the beginning of the next decade (2012).

The Columbus ECS PFM Test was intended as the final verification of the Module Thermal Design after a series of successful tests at subsystems level (e.g. the Active Thermal Control Subsystem and the Environmental Control and Life Support System) The test campaign has been articulated as a sequence of several test cases to investigate the main thermal aspects, to prove the Module thermal design in the extreme operative conditions and to correlate the thermal mathematical model (TMM). The interpretation of test results and the correlation confirmed that the thermal design of the module is adequate, but some areas of concern remain, mainly for the difficulty to translate to 0-g the results of a complex test in 1-g environment, and for some aspects of the air and cabin loops.

The resource Node 2 is a pressurized element of the ISS; it provides passageway among berthed habitable volumes, distributes electrical power and commands, collects and distributes thermal energy by rejecting waste heat to ISS radiators. The Node 2 attached elements are the USL, the PMA2, the MPLM, the JEM, the APM, the CAM and the TS S0. Figure 1 shows the present design of ISS. Purpose of this paper is to describe the Node 2 thermal design, both for its active and passive sections, as resulting from the imposed requirements, design constraints and mission external environments. The automatic controls, both for heaters and hydraulic actuators are briefly described. At the end, the testing activities foreseen for the thermal control development and verification are also highlighted.

The COLUMBUS Attached Pressurized Module (APM) is the European orbiting laboratory which will be permanently attached to the International Space Station Freedom (SSF). It is designed to provide a range of laboratory facilities in a microgravity environment for payload experiments originating from the international payload-user community. The individual payloads will in general be mounted in payload racks which can be accommodated in fixed positions on the left and right hand sides of the laboratory and in the ceiling. International standard payload racks (ISPR) can be located in any of the SSF laboratory elements and find compatible interface conditions subject to agreements made between the international partners (NASA, NASDA and ESA). The APM design provides a water cooling capability by means of moderate temperature (MT) and low temperature (LT) pumped fluid loops. The cooling loops serve both the APM essential subsystem equipment as well as the payload users.