HOUSTON - NASA has awarded a contract modification to the European Space Agency's Space Technology Center for additional engineering services for the International Space Station Node 2 and 3 modules. The modification is valued at $27.5 million.

The contract modification extends the current contract to reflect adjustments made to the station's assembly manifest and to meet increased contract requirements through June 30, 2011. The two-year extension increases the value of the $22 million fixed price contract to $49.5 million.

Node 2, also known as the Harmony module, is scheduled for delivery to the space station on the STS-120 mission, currently slated for Oct. 23. Node 3 is still in development. The modules are being built by Alcatel Alenia Space Italia in Torino, Italy, as part of an agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency.

Node 2 is a utility hub and will serve as a passageway between three station science experiment facilities: the U.S. Destiny Laboratory, the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module and the European Columbus Laboratory.

For more information about the space station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov