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{{Short description|Large pressurized container for cargo resupply of the International Space Station}}
[[File:Mplm in shuttle.jpg|thumb|The [[Leonardo MPLM|''Leonardo'']] Multi-Purpose Logistics Module rests in {{OV|103|full=no}}{{'}}s payload bay in this view taken from the [[International Space Station|ISS]] by a crew member using a digital still camera during [[STS-102]].]]
[[File:STS-114 Raffaello module.jpg|thumb|The [[Raffaello MPLM|''Raffaello'']] Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, when [[Docking and berthing of spacecraft#Berthing spacecraft and modules|berthed]] to the ISS during [[STS-114]]]]

A '''Multi-Purpose Logistics Module''' ('''MPLM''') is a large pressurized container that was used on [[Space Shuttle]] missions to transfer cargo to and from the [[International Space Station]] (ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and initially berthed to the ''[[Unity (ISS module)|Unity]]'' and later the ''[[Harmony (ISS module)|Harmony]]'' module on the ISS. Once attached, supplies were offloaded, and finished experiments and waste were reloaded. The MPLM was then transferred back into the Shuttle’s cargo bay for return to Earth. Three modules were built by [[Alenia Aeronautica]] for the [[Italian Space Agency]] (ASI). They were named ''[[Leonardo (ISS module)|Leonardo]]'', [[Raffaello MPLM|''Raffaello'']], and ''Donatello''.<ref name="nasamplm">{{cite web|publisher=[[NASA]]|year=2007|title=Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mplm.html}}</ref>

The ''Leonardo'' module was modified in 2010 to turn it into the [[Leonardo (ISS module)|Permanent Multipurpose Module]] (PMM) and was permanently attached to the ISS during the [[STS-133]] mission in March 2011.  In July 2011, the ''Raffaello'' module was the primary payload on the final Space Shuttle mission. It returned with the Shuttle and was stored at the Kennedy Space Center. The ''Donatello'' module never launched. MPLMs were flown on [[#Completed missions|12]] of the [[List of human spaceflights to the International Space Station|37]] Space Shuttle missions to the ISS.

The basic design of the MPLM was later used as the basis for two cargo spacecraft, the European [[Automated Transfer Vehicle]] and the American [[Cygnus (spacecraft)|Cygnus]]. 

==History==
The modules were provided to [[NASA]] under contract by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Three MPLMs were built and delivered to NASA and have names chosen by the ASI to denote some of the great talents in Italian history: [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Raphael|Raffaello]] and [[Donatello]]. Although built by ASI, the modules are owned by NASA. In exchange for building the MPLMs, ASI receives access to U.S. research time on the ISS.<ref name="nasamplm" />

The MPLMs have a heritage that goes back to [[Spacelab]].<ref name="heritage">{{Cite web|url=http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/columbus/newspaper/ESA_ColumbusLab_newspaper_ENG.pdf|title=A new European science laboratory in Earth orbit|website=ESAMultimedia.ESA.int|publisher=[[European Space Agency]]}}</ref> In addition, ESA's ''[[Columbus (ISS module)|Columbus]]'' module, the ''Harmony'' and ''[[Tranquility (ISS module)|Tranquility]]'' ISS modules and the [[Automated Transfer Vehicle|ATV]] and [[Cygnus spacecraft|Cygnus]] resupply craft all trace their origins to the MPLMs.<ref name="heritage" /> The MPLM concept was originally created for [[Space Station Freedom]]. Initially, they were to be built by [[Boeing]], but in 1992, the Italians announced that they would build a "Mini-Pressurized Logistics Module", able to carry {{convert|4500|kg|t}} of cargo. After the 1993 redesign of Freedom, the length was doubled and it was renamed the "Multi-Purpose Logistics Module". Each empty MPLM is approximately {{convert|21|ft|m}} long, {{convert|15|ft|m}} in diameter, weighs {{convert|4400|kg}}, and can deliver up to nine metric tons of cargo to the ISS.<ref name="nasamplm" />

''Donatello'' was a more capable module than its two siblings, as it was designed to carry payloads that required continuous power from construction through to installation on the ISS.  However, ''Donatello'' was never used and some of its parts were cannibalized to convert ''Leonardo'' into the PMM.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/101007payloads/|title=Spaceflight Now - STS-133 Shuttle Report - Roomy addition for space station ready to launch|website=SpaceFlightNow.com}}</ref>

With the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the ''Raffaello'' and ''Leonardo'' modules were flown a combined total of 12 times.

==Design==
An MPLM is a large cylinder equipped with a [[common berthing mechanism]] at one end, and [[grapple fixture]]s to allow the [[Canadarm-2]] to move it from the shuttle bay to a berthing port on the US Orbital Segment of the ISS.

===Power during launch===
[[File:ROEU STS-135.png|thumb|Remotely Operated Electrical Umbilical diagram]]

In order to provide power to equipment and experiments inside the MPLM during launch, the MPLM could be connected to the Shuttle's power supply by means of the [[Remotely Operated Electrical Umbilical]] (ROEU). The umbilical was mounted on the starboard side payload bay sidewall longeron, and was a folding arm umbilical that connected to the MPLM while it was in the payload bay. The arm was disconnected and retracted prior to the MPLM being removed for placement on the ISS and then reconnected once the MPLM was placed back inside the payload bay.

==Program logo==
[[File:Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Logo.png|thumb|MPLM logo]]

Since the module names are also the names of three of the four [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]], the NASA MPLM Group approached [[Mirage Studios]] artist A.C. Farley to design a logo featuring Raphael in an astronaut flight suit.<ref name="mplm-site" /> There were cloisonné pins produced, as well as stickers and embroidered patches. Because the Ninja Turtles were created by Mirage Studios and owned by them at the time (now owned by [[Paramount Global]], formerly ViacomCBS, via [[Nickelodeon]]), NASA gave Mirage the copyright to the logo in exchange for the use of the studio's character on it.<ref name="mplm-site" />

==Missions==
[[File:Yuri Gidzenko ISS Leonardo Module.jpg|thumb|Cosmonaut [[Yuri Gidzenko]] in ''Leonardo'' in 2001]]

{| class="wikitable"
|- 
! Flight
! Launch date
! Mission
! Shuttle
! MPLM
! Mass up<br>(kg){{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}
! Mass down<br>(kg){{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}
|-
| 1
| 8 March 2001
| [[STS-102]] ISS 5A.1
| {{OV|Discovery|full=no}}
| [[Leonardo MPLM|''Leonardo'']]
| 10,213
| 6,540
|-
| 2
| 19 April 2001
| [[STS-100]] ISS 6A
| {{OV|Endeavour|full=no}}
| [[Raffaello MPLM|''Raffaello'']]
| 8,811
| 6,763
|-
| 3
| 10 August 2001
| [[STS-105]] ISS 7A.1
| ''Discovery''
| ''Leonardo''
| 9,467
| 7,799
|-
| 4
| 5 December 2001
| [[STS-108]] ISS UF-1
| ''Endeavour''
| ''Raffaello''
| 9,228
| 8,693
|-
| 5
| 5 June 2002
| [[STS-111]] ISS UF-2
| ''Endeavour''
| ''Leonardo''
| 10,753
| 9,140
|-
| 6
| 26 July 2005
| [[STS-114]] ISS LF 1
| ''Discovery''
| ''Raffaello''
| 8,301
| 9,110
|-
| 7
| 4 July 2006
| [[STS-121]] ISS ULF 1.1
| ''Discovery''
| ''Leonardo''
| 9,588
| 8,124
|-
| 8
| 14 November 2008
| [[STS-126]] ISS ULF 2
| ''Endeavour''
| ''Leonardo''
| 12,748
| 6,966
|-
| 9
| 28 August 2009
| [[STS-128]] ISS 17A
| ''Discovery''
| ''Leonardo''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2008/08/sts-128-atlantis-2009-mission-baselined-by-prcb/ |title=STS-128 – Atlantis' 2009 mission baselined by PRCB |website=[[NASAspaceflight.com]] |first=Chris |last=Gebhardt |date=2008-08-25 |access-date=2020-11-25 }}</ref>
| 12,601
| 8,927
|-
| 10
| 5 April 2010
| [[STS-131]] ISS 19A
| ''Discovery''
| ''Leonardo''
| 12,371
| 9,242
|-
| 11
| 24 February 2011
| [[STS-133]] ISS ULF 5
| ''Discovery''
| [[Leonardo (ISS module)|''Leonardo'' PMM]]
| <!--It was launched, so there's no reason we shouldn't have the up mass. I just don't know the source of the other mass data.-->
| {{N/a|Part of ISS}}
|-
| 12
| 8 July 2011
| [[STS-135]] ISS ULF 7<ref name="mplm-site">{{cite web |url=http://mplm.msfc.nasa.gov/ |title=Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Office |publisher=[[Marshall Space Flight Center|NASA MSFC]] |access-date=February 22, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321025112/http://mplm.msfc.nasa.gov/ |archive-date=March 21, 2009 }}</ref>
| {{OV|Atlantis|full=no}}
| ''Raffaello''
| 9,500
| 5,660
|}

== Specifications ==
The following are the specifications of the MPLM:
*'''Length''' – 6.6 m (cylindrical part 4.8 m)<ref name=NASA-wiMPLM>{{cite web|last=NASA|title=What is MPLM?|url=http://mplm.msfc.nasa.gov/mission.html|access-date=11 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527091057/http://mplm.msfc.nasa.gov/mission.html |archive-date=27 May 2010}}</ref>
*'''Width''' – 4.57 m<ref name=NASA-wiMPLM/>
*'''Mass''' – 4,082&nbsp;kg empty; 13,154&nbsp;kg fully loaded<ref name=NASA-wiMPLM/>
*'''Habitable volume''' – 31 m<sup>3</sup><ref name=NASA-wiMPLM/>
*'''Material''' – [[stainless steel]]{{cn|date=December 2020}}

== Future use ==
The ''Donatello MPLM'' has been converted by Lockheed Martin into a Habitat Ground Test Article (HGTA) Lunar habitat prototype<ref>[https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2019-03-14-Returning-Astronauts-to-the-Moon-Lockheed-Martin-Finalizes-Full-Scale-Cislunar-Habitat-Prototype Returning Astronauts to the Moon: Lockheed Martin Finalizes Full-Scale Cislunar Habitat Prototype]</ref> which is located at NASA KSC. ''[[Leonardo MPLM|Leonardo]]'' is permanently attached to the ISS as PMM and should reenter in the atmosphere with it. ''[[Raffaello MPLM|Raffaello]]'' is located at an [[Axiom Space]] facility near Houston, in preparation to undergo work to become an element for the Axiom Commercial Space Station.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leinfelder |first=Andrea |date=2023-04-27 |title=NASA's Super Guppy delivers space shuttle module for reuse on Axiom Space's commercial station |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/space/article/nasa-super-guppy-houston-commercial-space-station-17920584.php |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=The Houston Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=NASA Image and Video Library |url=https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20230420-PH-JBS01_0094 |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=NASA Image and Video Library |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Automated Transfer Vehicle]]
* [[List of Space Shuttle missions]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Space Shuttle}}
{{ISS modules}}
{{European human spaceflight}}
{{Orbital launches in 2008}}

[[Category:Italian Space Agency]]
[[Category:Supply vehicles for the International Space Station]]
[[Category:Vehicles introduced in 2001]]