Questions about Cupola

I have taken a look at the image gallery on the spaceflight web site.

When they relocated the Cupola, is it correct to state that there was a
vacuum inside because there is CBM hatch in the cupola itself ?

The original US segment holes had a very clean vestibule covered with
some plastic (or fabric) membrane to hide all the connectors below.

Right now, all of the systems in the cupola appear to be rather bare,
exposed, with cables and water tubes visible. Is this to be permanent,
or will all those eventually be covered up with some similar membrane ?


The ATU and the robotic workstation have been mentioned. What other
systems are present in the Cupola ?

Is then a return air duct through the CBM or is the only ventilation
available through the hatch ? If there is no active ventilation, will
air from node 3 be sufficient to prevent condensation on the windows ?

Are there heaters in the windows ? Heaters for the cabin air in the
cupola ?



Will the windows normally remain open for casual use ? Or will they be
closed and opened only when they are formally needed ? For instance, if
a crew member wants to listen to an ipod for some minutes suring rest
time, could he go to the cipola and open the windows without ground
control permission ?