NASA Sets Date For Atlantis Access To Space

The Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-122) will launch on December 6th and ESA astronauts Hans Schlegel, from Germany, and Leopold Eyharts, from France, are set to carry ESA’s Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station. The lift off will occur at 22:31 CET from launch pad 39-A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The ISS docking should occur on Saturday, December 8th, at 19:14 CET, with landing of the Shuttle to occur on Monday, December 17th at 18:29 CET.




ESA’s Columbus laboratory is the most important European mission to the ISS to date and IS the cornerstone of Europe’s contribution to this international endeavour. Once Columbus is launched, assembled to the Space Station and verified, ESA will become an active partner in the operations and utilization of mankind’s only permanent outpost in space. As the first European laboratory devoted to long-term research in space, Columbus will further expand the science capabilities of the ISS. In its interior, the Columbus laboratory will provide accommodation for experiments in the field of multidisciplinary research into biology, physiology, material science, fluid physics, technology, life science and education. In addition, its external payload facility hosts experiments and applications in the field of space science, Earth observation and technology.




German ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel will play a key role in two of the three spacewalks or EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) scheduled for the mission. During the mission’s first EVA, Schlegel will help to install and power up the laboratory. During his long duration stay on the ISS, Eyharts will play a key part in the installation, activation and in-orbit commissioning of Columbus and of its experimental facilities. Once in orbit, Columbus will be monitored from ESA’s Columbus Control Center located within DLR’s German Space Operations Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich.



Eyharts is also likely to be onboard ISS for the launch of Jules Verne, Europe’s first Automated Transfer Vehicle, an unmanned supply ship carrying cargo to the ISS, including food, air and water. Jules Verne ATV is scheduled for launch on an Ariane 5 launcher early next year. Eyharts will return to Earth at the end of Shuttle mission STS-123 (currently manifested for launch not earlier than 14 February 2008).