At 22:44 CET (21:44 UT) on February 11, 2008, NASA astronaut and ISS Commander Peggy Whitson initiated final capture of the newly delivered module. From that moment on, firmly attached to the right side of the Node 2 module, the European Columbus laboratory officially became a part of the International Space Station (ISS). Eth, 2008, the hatches between Columbus and the Space Station were opened and the crew entered the module for the first time in orbit. ESA astronauts Léopold Eyharts and Hans Schlegel took the lead in commissioning the module. Eyharts then remained on board the Station for a total of seven weeks completing the commissioning activities and starting the first scientific experiments.
All the facilities launched with Columbus – the four rack facilities inside the module, but also the two external payloads – have now been used to collect valuable scientific data. Experiments have been conducted in fields as diverse as plant biology, exobiology, solar physics, human physiology and fluid science. Like Columbus, the International Space Station Programme, which itself marked 10 years in orbit last November, continues to move forward. Since the addition of Columbus, Japan’s Kibo laboratory has been installed on the opposite side of Node 2 and the structure of the ISS is nearing completion. This May, with the arrival of the Soyuz 19S spacecraft, there will be another major milestone for the orbital outpost when the Station’s permanent crew increases from three to six for the first time. Amongst the first crew of six will be Belgian ESA astronaut Frank De Winne who is also set to become the first European ISS Commander from October 2009. With a six-strong crew and with De Winne staying on the Station for six months, there will be a real boost of crew time available.
(Source: ESA News — Photo, view of Columbus laboratory installed in its new home on the ISS, courtesy ESA/NASA)
