Spacelab: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Spacelab is a microgravity laboratory flown into space on the Space Shuttle. It consists of a large cylindrical main laboratory that is flown in the rear of the Space Shuttle cargo bay, connected to the crew compartment by a long tube. The laboratory had an outer diameter of 4.06 m, and each segment a length of 2.7 m. Most of time two segments were used, thus it had a total length of 5.4 m.

In April 1973 NASA and the ESA (then known as the ESRO) agreed to build a modular science package. Construction of Spacelab started in 1974 by the ERNO (represented by VFW-Fokker GmbH, later bought by MBB, and since 2003 part of EADS Space Transportation). The first lab, LM1, was given to NASA free of charge in exchange for flight opportunities for european astronauts. A second lab, LM2, was bought by NASA for its own needs. The system also included a system of external pallets for experiments in vacuum, built by British Aerospace.

Spacelab was used in 25 shuttle flights, but was decommissioned in 1998 - science work was supposed to be moved to the International Space Station and Spacehab module, a smaller version of Spacelab. The palette was recommissioned in 2002 for flight on STS-99, and future use is likely.

Spacelab missions

• STS-9, Spacelab 1, November 1983, LM1
• STS-51-B, Spacelab 3, April 1985, LM1
• STS-51-F, Spacelab 2, July 1985, Palette
• STS-61-A, Spacelab D1, October 1985, LM2
• STS-35, ASTRO-1, December 1990, Palette
• STS-40, SLS-1, June 1991, LM1
• STS-42, IML-1, January 1992, LM2
• STS-45, ATLAS-1, March 1992, Palette
• STS-50, USML-1, June 1992, LM1
• STS-47, Spacelab-J, September 1992, LM2
• STS-56, ATLAS-2, April 1993, Palette
• STS-55, Spacelab D2, April 1993, LM1
• STS-58, SLS-2, October 1993, LM2
• STS-59, SRL-1, April 1994, Palette
• STS-65, IML-2, July 1994, LM1
• STS-68, SRL-2, October 1994, Palette
• STS-66, ATLAS-3, November 1994, Palette
• STS-67, ASTRO-2, March 1995, Palette
• STS-71, Spacelab-Mir, June 1995, LM2
• STS-73, USML-2, October 1995, LM1
• STS-78, LMS, June 1996, LM2
• STS-83, MSL-1, April 1997, LM1
• STS-94, MSL-1R, July 1997, LM1
• STS-90, Neurolab, April 1998, LM2
• STS-99, SRTM, February 2000, Palette