While everyone is still talking about the successful launch of a car into space and the first launch of a Falcon Heavy , yesterday ESA and DLR celebrated the anniversary of their space laboratory Columbus : It has been in space for ten years and since then a centerpiece of scientific research aboard the International Space Station ISS. Is operated Columbus from Germany.
The Columbus Space Laboratory started its journey into space on February 7, 2008, and has been the scientific heart of European research on the International Space Station for ten years. In weightlessness, researchers gain unique insights from a wide variety of disciplines, from astrophysics and materials research to psychology and treatment options in medicine.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has supervised the development and production of the ISS module on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), is experimenting with research at the research center and is running the operation from the Columbus control center in Oberpfaffenhofen. A total of 161 ESA experiments were conducted in the Columbus laboratory, as well as experiments by 67 international partners and commercial users.
More than a hundred astronauts were on board - starting with Hans Schlegel, who commissioned the Columbus module as part of the STS-122 mission. Alexander Gerst will return to the laboratory 400 kilometers up in June 2018 for his ISS mission Horizons . A workplace that brings back many memories of the German ESA astronaut - such as the improvised use of shaving foam to capture sawdust during installation of the EML melting furnace. Alexander Gerst will be able to build on the successful work of 2014 by replacing the sample set of the plant in the summer to allow a new series of material-physical experiments.
Around 80 scientists and engineers at the DLR German Space Operations Center (GSOC) supervise the European activities on the ISS: For more than 87,600 hours, the GSOC Columbus control center has been monitoring and coordinating operation in the Columbus module at the ISS. During this time, the ground crew not only ensured routine operation, but also constantly had to master new challenges. These included software updates of the highly specialized operating system as well as repair and maintenance of vital systems, such as the replacement of a 70-kilogram water pump.
In this way, the space lab has been able to open up new scientific terrain in its ten-year history. This also includes the investigation of magnetic fields and the basics for the development of protective shields with the Magnetic Field Experiment "MagVector / MFX". In the "Biolab", however, scientists were able to study the growth behavior of plants and microorganisms in weightlessness. The continuation of the plasma crystal experiments and the experiments on human-robot interaction with the intelligent DLR robot Justin is also eagerly awaited: the "PK-4" device allows physical processes in a model system for liquids and solids to be "atomic" Examine level.
Already the discovery of the plasma crystals in 1994 led to the rewriting of the textbooks of physics. The DLR Institute for Material Physics in Space is raising data resources for the coming decades with the new experimental series planned for the fall in the Columbus laboratory. The DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics is currently preparing two follow-up experiments within the framework of the METERON project.
The astronauts aboard the ISS will control the humanoid robot Justin at DLR Oberpfaffenhofen via tablet in the Columbus laboratory. Using a simple command input from a distance, the robot is to perform complex tasks independently. In the second half of the year, a co-worker experiment with Alexander Gerst is planned. The German ESA astronaut will use a tablet from the ISS to test the next development stage of the future robonaut - the intelligent assembly of elements for setting up a device or a Mars station.
The International Space Station ISS is the largest technology project of all time: The "outpost" of humanity in space is currently operated jointly by the USA, Russia, the member states of the European Space Agency ESA, Canada and Japan. The DLR Space Administration coordinates the German contributions to the ISS programs of the ESA, with regard to the expansion, operation and use of the station and is in charge of the implementation of the national utilization program.
In the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the German and European space experiments, the scientists are supported by the User Center for Space Experiments (MUSC). The European Astronaut Center (EAC) is responsible for the training of the astronauts and the operations team of the Columbus laboratory, in cooperation with the DLR facility, space flight and astronaut training. The Columbus Control Center at DLR Oberpfaffenhofen operates the ISS module in close coordination with NASA's astronauts and control centers in Houston and Huntsville.
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