Columbus
As a partner in the International Space Station (ISS) programme, ESA is providing the Columbus laboratory module, Europe's most important contribution to the Station.
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| External view of the Columbus laboratory |
Columbus is a multi-purpose science laboratory, which is scheduled to be delivered to the ISS by the U.S. Space Shuttle. This highly flexible facility comprises a pressurised module and several unpressurised external payload platforms.
At the heart of the 4.5 metre diameter cylindrical module will be 10 experiment racks, each of which can accommodate a variety of scientific equipment. These facilities will enable ground-based researchers to conduct scientific experiments in life and physical sciences in space.
The research equipment, which has to be compact enough to fit into a confined space and robust enough to withstand years of service, has been designed to accommodate multiple users. It is also largely automatic and fully controllable from ground stations, since astronauts will have a limited amount of time to supervise the operations.
Columbus also has four mounting points where external payloads can be exposed to the space environment. Experiments installed on these platforms can be used in a wide range of scientific and technological investigations, such as the ability of organisms to survive in space, measurements of radiation from the sun and the stars, and studies of the way materials behave in the environment. It is also intended to place an earth viewing camera on a platform outside Columbus.
Hundreds of researchers from across Europe will be able to use the laboratory, controlling their own experiments directly from specialist User Centres or their own work places. The results of these experiments will ultimately be brought to a wider audience through ESA's Erasmus Experiment Archive, which already contains records of European microgravity research that date back to the 1960s.
Their efforts will be channelled through the Columbus Control Centre in Germany, which will interface with the laboratory itself and also the other international partners centres around the world.