ESA - Columbus anniversary

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Columbus launched onboard Space Shuttle Atlantis Space Shuttle Atlantis and its seven-member STS-122 crew head toward the International Space Station. Liftoff from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A occurred at 12:45 (EST). The launch was the third attempt for Atlantis since December 2007 to carry ESA's Columbus laboratory to the Station. During the 11-day mission, the crew's primary objective was to attach the laboratory to the Harmony module, adding to the station's size and capabilities. Onboard are astronauts Steve Frick, commander; Alan Poindexter, pilot; Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, ESA's Hans Schlegel, Stanley Love and ESA's Leopold Eyharts, all mission specialists. Léopold joined Expedition 16 to serve as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station.

Credits: NASA


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Columbus installation first spacewalk The European Columbus laboratory was installed during the first spacewalk of the STS-122 mission. NASA astronauts Stanley Love and Rex Walheim spent nearly 8 hours outside the International Space Station. Their tasks included preparation of the Columbus laboratory for transfer from Space Shuttle Atlantis' payload bay to the starboard side of the Station's Harmony module.

Credits: NASA

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NASA Astronaut Rex Walheim hanging on to Columbus NASA astronaut Rex Walheim, mission specialist, holds onto a handrail on the Columbus laboratory on the International Space Station. His helmet visor mirrors the forward section of the Space Shuttle Atlantis that is docked to the Station. NASA astronaut Stanley Love (out of frame), mission specialist, shared this final period of STS-122 spacewalk with Rex.

Credits: NASA

On 7 February 2008 Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched to the International Space Station carrying ESA's Columbus laboratory.
Over 6 m long and more than 10 tonnes, its shell was built in Italy and completed in Germany. Columbus was shipped to the US to be launched from the Kennedy Space Center. ESA astronauts Léopold Eyharts and Hans Schlegel joined the Shuttle crew to install the module on the orbital complex.
Since then, more than a hundred ESA-led experiments have been conducted in many areas such as biology, fluid physics, material sciences, radiation physics and the human body.
More
Five years of supporting science from ESA's Columbus Control Centre

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ESA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

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