International Space Station Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Alexander Skvortsov opened the hatch of the Mini Research Module-1, named Rassvet, Thursday.

The 11,000-pound module was attached to its permanent home on the Russian segment of the station May 18.

The new module will host a variety of biotechnology and biological science experiments and fluid physics and educational research. Rassvet contains a pressurized compartment with eight workstations, including a glove box to keep experiments separated from the in-cabin environment; two incubators to accommodate high- and low-temperature experiments; and a special platform to protect experiments from onboard vibrations.

Attached to its exterior is an experiment airlock that will be used on another Russian laboratory module set for delivery in 2012.