Attaching the Columbus Laboratory

“Columbus will be the first time we have not only coordination responsibility for the science experiments but also permanent system-wide responsibility in particular for the life-support services like air and temperature. Once Columbus is in orbit, the Columbus Control Center will be manned twenty-four hours per day,” says Dieter Sabath, head of mission operations at the centre.

Hans Schlegel felt good enough Wednesday to go out on the spacewalk with astronaut Rex Walheim, after missing Sunday’s spacewalk and having it postponed until Monday. The removal of the expended Nitrogen Tank Assembly (NTA) and the installation of the new on the International Space Agency’s P1 on Wednesday was a success, with the tank being part of the orbital outpost’s cooling system.

Meanwhile, the day after Wednesday’s busy schedule, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to the Atlantis crew members and those of the International Space Station Thursday, congratulating them on the Columbus’ successful installation. Even though the German astronaut Hans Schlegel did not actually participate on Monday to install the laboratory, Wednesday he was part of the spacewalking process to continue its installation. On Friday, at 5:35 a.m., astronauts and Mission Specialists Rex Walheim Stanley Love will spend another night in the station’s Quest airlock before Friday’s spacewalk to remove nitrogen from their system.

Germany has more of an investment than simply attaching the Columbus laboratory to the Harmony module, with the Rome-based Alcatel Alenia Space constructing the Columbus laboratory in Turin, Italy, at a price of $2 billion dollars. This was Europe’s largest satellite manufacturer, building large scientific modules for the ISS, known mainly for its “Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules and Columbus.” The Columbus has been designed for ten years of operation, controlled by the Columbus Control Center, located at the German Space Operations Center, which are part of the DLR, or German Aerospace Center. After the completion of the Columbus, it was integrated to Germany before being flown to the Kennedy Space Center.

The Columbus Control Center, inaugurated in 2004, is located at the German Aerospace Center (DLR)in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, Europe’s first capsule communicator facility. Under contract from ESA and Astrium, it is responsible for science activities in addition to systems and life support for the newly attached Columbus laboratory at the International Space Station. Consisting of 80 engineers with complete training, simulations, and practices for the Columbus launching, the fact it finally was launched to the ISS and attached, is a success for everyone involved.