If you’re a student chock full of ideas, NASA wants your suggestions to name its Node 2 module: a sort of orbital hub that will bridge new sections of the International Space Station (ISS).

Slated to launch in August 2007, Node 2 [image] is a habitable module to serve as an attachment point for Japan’s Kibo laboratory [image], Europe’s Columbus module and periodic cargo containers packed full of supplies. The module’s launch is vital to the space station’s future construction.

The “Name the ISS Node 2 Challenge” is open to students enrolled in Kindergarten through 12th Grade, and calls for entrants to build a model of the 23.6-foot (seven-meter) long orbital hub in their schools or classrooms. Node 2 is 14.5 feet (4.4 meters) wide if you’re wondering. You have to enter with your class or school. No individual submissions are allowed.

NASA currently has two habitable modules currently attached to the ISS – Unity (formerly Node 1) [image] and the Destiny laboratory – as well as the Quest airlock. Russia’s segments include the Zvezda service module, Zarya control module [image] and Pirs docking compartment, which doubles as an airlock for Russian spacewalks.

“This is the first time that we’ve held a public contest to name a part of the International Space Station,” NASA spokesperson Debbie Nguyen told me, adding that Unity and Destiny were internally named.

Node 2 naming contestants are required to register by Nov. 17, with all entries due by Dec. 1. NASA officials at the space agency’s Washington, D.C. headquarters will make the final selection in early 2007.
 
Rules for the naming contest are available at this NASA website, and are accompanied by a handy Node 2-naming guide.

On a related note, I do recall an earlier NASA spacecraft naming contest to give what would later become the space shuttle Endeavour its moniker in 1989. I think my class chose the name Half Moon after the ship sailed by Henry Hudson in 1609.