The crew continued the task of building and enhancing the International Space Station by delivering the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module.
It was the first NASA lab to be permanently used ever since the days of Skylab nearly three decades earlier.
It was manufactured by Boeing at the Michoud Assembly Facility and the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1997.
Upon transport to Kennedy Space Center's industrial buildings, it was fitted with equipment, machines, racks and cables at the Operations and Checkout Building and Space Station Processing Facility.
The U.S. laboratory module is 28 feet (8.5 m) long and 14 feet (4.3 m) wide.
It is made from stainless steel and aluminum, and comprises three cylindrical sections and two end-cones that contain the hatch openings through which astronauts enter and exit the module.
The ends are colored blue and white respectively for the crew to navigate easily.
A 20-inch (510 mm)-diameter window is located on one side of the center module segment.

During the mission, the shuttle docked to PMA 3 located on the nadir of Node 1.
The crew relocated PMA 2 to the holding area on the Z1 truss temporarily, before using the Shuttle's robotic arm to lift out the 14.5 ton steel module out of the Shuttle's payload bay, and permanently berthed it on the forward hatch of Node 1.
Spacewalks conducted by Thomas Jones and Robert Curbeam reattached electrical cables to the stainless steel hull and connecting ports on Destiny, and also checked the laboratory's nadir window.
PMA 2 was replaced to the forward hatch of Destiny.

The Shuttle spent six days docked to the station while the laboratory was attached and three spacewalks were conducted to complete its assembly.
The mission also saw the 100th spacewalk in U.S. spaceflight history.
STS-98 occurred while the first station crew was aboard the new space station.
The crew continued the task of building and enhancing the International Space Station by delivering the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module. It was the first NASA lab to be permanently used ever since the days of Skylab nearly three decades earlier. It was manufactured by Boeing at the Michoud Assembly Facility and the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1997. Upon transport to Kennedy Space Center's industrial buildings, it was fitted with equipment, machines, racks and cables at the Operations and Checkout Building and Space Station Processing Facility. The U.S. laboratory module is 28 feet (8.5 m) long and 14 feet (4.3 m) wide. It is made from stainless steel and aluminum, and comprises three cylindrical sections and two end-cones that contain the hatch openings through which astronauts enter and exit the module. The ends are colored blue and white respectively for the crew to navigate easily. A 20-inch (510 mm)-diameter window is located on one side of the center module segment.
During the mission, the shuttle docked to PMA 3 located on the nadir of Node 1. The crew relocated PMA 2 to the holding area on the Z1 truss temporarily, before using the Shuttle's robotic arm to lift out the 14.5 ton steel module out of the Shuttle's payload bay, and permanently berthed it on the forward hatch of Node 1. Spacewalks conducted by Thomas Jones and Robert Curbeam reattached electrical cables to the stainless steel hull and connecting ports on Destiny, and also checked the laboratory's nadir window. PMA 2 was replaced to the forward hatch of Destiny.
The Shuttle spent six days docked to the station while the laboratory was attached and three spacewalks were conducted to complete its assembly. The mission also saw the 100th spacewalk in U.S. spaceflight history. STS-98 occurred while the first station crew was aboard the new space station.
STS-98