What ISS rack facility supports Earth imaging through Destiny's science window?

The Window Observational Research Facility supports Earth imaging through Destiny’s science window. Usually called WORF, it is a specialized experiment rack installed over the U.S. Laboratory Science Window in the Destiny module.

Destiny’s nadir-facing window has telescope-quality optics and was designed for observing Earth below. WORF provides mounting points, power, data connections, crew restraints and light-control equipment for cameras and other remote-sensing payloads. Its dark, non-reflective interior helps reduce glare and stray reflections during imaging.

WORF is not itself a camera and it is not the window. It is the rack facility that turns the window into a more capable research platform. Earth-observation work can examine subjects such as agriculture, geology, coastal change, fires, floods and atmospheric phenomena.

The facility arrived aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-131 in April 2010. Its name also references Worf, the Star Trek character; the mission patch even included Klingon writing, a playful nod to the facility’s acronym.