The ISS Adds True Meaning to “International”
“The European Columbus module is officially part of the International Space Station,” said French space engineer Leopold Eyharts, with NASA broadcasting live images of the installation, which took place at 2144 GMT.
Well, everyone…finally the new European Lab Columbus is part of the International Space Station, located on the right side of the Harmony module that was delivered to the ISS in December of 2007. And about time, is all we have to say about the whole situation. At last, Europe can say they are now part of the United States and Russian space station venture that has made the word “international” take on a whole new meaning.
On the first spacewalk, a seven-hour spacewalk which took longer than expected by about 1.5 hours, involved attaching the 23-foot, 14-ton European laboratory, with both Rex Walheim and Stanley Love more than overjoyed when it was completed. On Monday, the protective covers had been removed from the Columbus, then plugging in a grappling pin for the robot arm, along with other chores.
A little late, it was originally supposed to be attached in 1992 to celebrate the sailing of Christopher Columbus, but problems had developed–again and again. As Columbus was lifted by a robot arm out of Atlantis, astronaut Daniel Tani reported: “Columbus has started its trip to the New World.” The best thing for the ISS crew is that the new addition has greatly expanded the space station to eight rooms, attaching directly to the Harmony compartment.
In the spring, it will become even larger when Japan’s new lab will become attached–the Japanese module Kibo. Japan’s laboratory is planning on arriving at the ISS around the middle of March 2008, adding to their share in the international venture of the International Space Station. Paid for mainly by Germany, Italy, and France, it is a milestone for Europe as the United States and Russia has been responsible for most of the ISS so far. The space shuttle fleet will be retired in 2010 for the International Space Station.
The Columbus laboratory will be used for science research, such as biotechnology and medicine experiments involving microgravity. Panels are going to be installed to protect the laboratory from the impact of micro-meteorites. Biotechnology is a certain type of biology that is based on biology, used in many things on Earth and space–medicine, food, science, and agriculture.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 11:26 am and is filed under Space Agency News, Technical Concerns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
