The crew patch for September's STS-106 shuttle mission. Photo: NASA

Assuming no major problems develop, a Progress supply ship loaded with fuel, equipment and supplies will dock to Zvezda's aft port on Aug. 2. The crew of the shuttle Atlantis will arrive two days after launch on Sept. 8 to begin work to activate and outfit the new module.

The first item on the agenda will be a 6.5-hour spacewalk by Malenchenko and astronaut Edward Lu to connect power, communications and data cables between Zvezda and Zarya. They also will install a magnetometer, hook up television cables and route lines that will support Russian Orlon spacesuits during future assembly work.

The day after the spacewalk, Atlantis's crew will enter the space station and get down to work, first routing air ducts, activating ventilation fans and turning on the station's caution and warning system.

The service module can accommodate eight sets of batteries and associated avionics gear. It will be launched with four sets and the Atlantis astronauts will install three more. They also will set up the Elektron air generation system, install a biomedical support system, the treadmill and a "medical cabinet" for use as needed by future full-time crews.

While that work is going on, the astronauts will unload the Progress supply ship docked to Zvezda's aft port. Launch braces and other brackets no longer needed by the service module will be removed.

"In the end, everything that needs to be discarded will be put into the cargo vehicle," Malenchenko said. "We will prepare the cargo vehicle for undocking and on the ninth day (of Atlantis's mission), we are planning to seal the service module and FGB (Zarya) and move back to the shuttle ... to undock and land.