The International Space Station
Columbus: the European space laboratory
Did you say jigsaw puzzle? Columbus is a sort of giant soft drink can, 6.8 metres long and almost 5 metres in diameter, made by Germany, Italy and France, was attached in February 2008 to the International Space Station (ISS). To do what? Thousands of experiments about Weightlessness" >weightlessness!
Columbus© EADS Space Transportation
When’s that for?
A part of the puzzle. The laboratory is the main European contribution to the Station, along with the ATV. No less than ten European counties, in particular Germany, Italy and France, have taken part in this project, being run by the EADS Astrium company. The French astronaut Leopold Eyarts was responsible for docking the Columbus to the ISS, literally to add a new room to this large, shared apartment that is the Station. Columbus is controlled from Germany.
What does Columbus do?
Columbus is a 13-ton module equipped with the very latest equipment. It lets three “spationauts” work at the same time and carry out experiments over ten years about the behaviour of liquids, materials, and living and vegetable organisms in a state of Weightlessness" >weightlessness. To do this, 10 mini-laboratories each the size of a telephone box have been installed inside Columbus. What an achievement! Each of them specialises in a specific type of research. Each is independent, self-cooled and connected by video link to the researchers back on Earth. So it’s a true integrated research centre designed by the Europeans, but the size of a lorry!
Who is going to put the puzzle together?
The French “spationaut” Léopold Eyarts will be in charge of docking Columbus with the ISS and activating it, to literally make it a new piece of this large, shared apartment. And Columbus will be controlled from Germany. Once the “can” has been opened, the Europeans will occupy part of the ISS and so must share in its proper operation. They will be responsible for supplies and getting rid of the waste. This responsibility comes from the new technological challenge that is the automatic transfer vehicle (ATV).
