DocumentCode :
925372
Title :
The European Columbus Programme
Author :
Kutzer, Ants
Author_Institution :
Director, COLUMBUS Project, MBB/ERNO, Bremen
Volume :
2
Issue :
1
fYear :
1987
Firstpage :
2
Lastpage :
12
Abstract :
This paper describes the current status of the COLUMBUS Programme, Europe´s contribution to the U.S. Space Station, which is being studied under contract to the European Space Agency. Twelve European nations are involved in and are contributing to this new space undertaking. The elements of the COLUMBUS Space Segment presently being considered by ESA are a Pressurized Laboratory Module (4 segment), permanently attached to the U.S. Space Station, dedicated to materials science, fluid physics and compatible life sciences, and a Polar Platform, configured to accommodate Earth observation, meteorology, communications and space science payloads. The reference launch vehicles are the Space Shuttle for the attached Module and Ariane 5 for the Polar Platform. The more recently added COLUMBUS flight configuration, the Man-Tended Free Flyer (MTFF), consists of a combination of two programme elements, the Resource Module and a 2-segment Pressurized Module. It is designed to provide all required resources and services to the various payloads in a continuous microgravity environment to perform material science, fluid physics and compatible life sciences experiments. The MTFF is carried into orbit by the European launcher Ariane 5. As an option, studies of an enhanced ground based EURECA carrier as a small co-orbiting platform, launched by the Space Shuttle, will be initiated. The primary function would be to accommodate space science and/or micro-g payloads. These EURECA studies are performed currently outside the COLUMBUS programme scope, and this option is therefore not addressed in detail in this paper.
Keywords :
Europe; Geoscience; Materials science and technology; Payloads; Satellite ground stations; Space shuttles; Space stations;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0885-8985
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/MAES.1987.5005221
Filename :
5005221
Link To Document :
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