Sir Isaac Newton is getting the royal treatment in space, thanks to the British-born astronaut who carried up a picture of the 17th century scientist and a chip from his famous apple tree.

Atlantis astronaut Piers Sellers said he placed Sir Isaac's picture in the glassed-in dome of the International Space Station - the best seat in the gravity-less house. The views of Earth are stupendous from there.

"Sir Isaac absolutely loved it, I've got to tell you," Sellers said in an interview. "We had him in the window, and he got to watch his little wood chip float by and ponder the laws of gravitation and everything, so I think it was a treat for him."

The Royal Society of London provided Mr Sellers with the four-inch sliver of wood, which he took with him into orbit aboard the shuttle. It is inscribed with Sir Isaac's initials and, according to the society, came from the actual tree in England from which an apple fell nearly 350 years ago and inspired Sir Isaac to discover the law of gravity.

Mr Sellers said the ceremony was a dry run. He plans to videotape the Sir Isaac items later this week for the Royal Society, which is the national academy of science of the United Kingdom and is celebrating its 350th anniversary.

Sir Isaac was a physicist, mathematician and astronomer. His brush with the falling apple is believed to have occurred in the mid-1660s.

Mr Sellers, now a US citizen, and the rest of Atlantis' visiting astronauts got some time off after nearly a week of stressful work in orbit.

The day's big event was the grand opening of the space station's newest room.

The Russian compartment, named Rassvet, or Dawn, was installed by the Atlantis crew earlier this week. Station commander Oleg Kotov had the honour of opening it up.