Astronauts Wednesday fixed a bus-sized 14-tonne module into place on the International Space Station to enable the future installation of a European and a Japanese laboratory, NASA said.
"Station crew members moved Harmony from its temporary location on the left side of the Unity node to its new home on the front of the US laboratory Destiny Wednesday morning," a statement from the US space agency said.
The European Columbus laboratory is due to be delivered on the next space shuttle flight, with the Atlantis set to blast off on December 6.
Japan's Kibo lab will be transported into space in two parts, with the first to leave on a shuttle flight planned for February, and the second in April.
The three crew currently staying on the space station moved the pressurized Harmony module from its temporary placement on the left side of the Unity module to install it in front of the US laboratory, Destiny.
In an operation which took less than two hours, US flight engineer Dan Tani grasped Harmony with the station's robotic arm, while ISS commander Peggy Whitson operated the common berthing mechanisms.
First she freed the Harmony from its place and then she drove the bolts firmly into place securing it to the front of Destiny, NASA said.
Two space walks are planned next week to hook up the electrics and the computer cables as well as the air conditioning.
Harmony was hauled into space on the last voyage by the Space Shuttle Discovery which left the ISS on November 5. Since then the three-strong crew on board the space station, which includes a Russian astronaut, have stepped up efforts to install Harmony before the arrival of Atlantis.
"After its Wednesday move, Harmony is in position to welcome visiting space shuttles," NASA said.
"It also will offer docking ports to the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory, scheduled to arrive next month, and Japan's Kibo experiment module, to become a part of the International Space Station next year."
The ISS, a 100-billion-dollar (70.3-billion-euro) project involving 16 countries, is considered crucial to US ambitions for a manned mission to Mars and is set to be completed within three years.
The US space agency plans to launch at least another 11 missions to complete the ISS by 2010, when the shuttle fleet is scheduled to be taken out of service.
