Happy 10th Birthday Columbus Module
- 7th Feb 2018
- Author: Tamela Maciel
Ten years ago, on 7 February 2008, the Space Shuttle Atlantis blasted off from Florida, carrying with it the Columbus Module – a space science laboratory and Europe’s largest contribution to the International Space Station (ISS).
Today the Columbus Module is still a workhouse of cutting-edge science, enabling astronauts and scientists around the world to test how things behave without gravity, and we’re delighted to wish it a very happy 10th birthday!
Columbus Module
The Columbus Module was a long time in the making. Initially the European Space Agency (ESA) intended to build its own European space station, named Columbus,which would be serviced by a European space shuttle called Hermes. This programme was developed between 1986 and 1991, but budget cuts meant that the space station and shuttle were ultimately cancelled, leaving behind only the concept for a cylindrical module for space research.
Fast forward 17 years and this Columbus Module was reborn as a new lab for the International Space Station, bolted on to the existing Harmony module.
From the outside, Columbus looks a bit like a huge retro Airstream trailer, nearly 7 metres long and 4.5 metres in diameter. Only the ESA logo sets it apart from the American and Russian modules of the rest of the ISS.
Inside, Columbus is packed with built-in racks of scientific equipment and glove boxes. Like the rest of the ISS, space is at a premium and additional kit and laptops are velcro-ed to all four walls.
Space Science, Earth Science
A science lab without gravity is a fantastic place to test everything from the creation of stronger, lighter new materials to the strange way in which fluids behave in microgravity.
But the main research on the ISS focuses on the astronauts themselves, and how the human body adapts (or doesn’t) to long periods in space. This research is vital if we’re ever going to send humans on longer mission to the Moon or Mars, but more importantly, these studies are helping us treat diseases here on Earth and counter the effects of ageing.
It turns out that life in microgravity is an excellent, accelerated model of growing old – bone density decreases, muscles lose strength, and the immune system becomes weaker. Astronauts use the Columbus Module to learn how their bodies respond to microgravity, exercise, and diet, all in the hope of learning how to better treat symptoms of ageing on Earth.
At the National Space Centre
Here at the National Space Centre, we have a full-scale replica of the Columbus Module, in order to give people a sense of just how cramped and busy life is on the ISS. All four surfaces are covered in replica switches, screens, and drawers, with a mock window in the floor to emphasise that ‘there’s no down in space’.
We taken some creative license by installing a vertical sleeping module and even an astronaut shower – these don’t exist in the real Columbus Module but they spark lots of wonderful conversations about the challenges and realities of life in space. Six months of a floating sleeping bag and wet wipe shower anyone?
Today we’re celebrating Columbus Module’s 10th birthday by drop-in astronaut demos and a very special ‘floating’ photo op in our Into Space gallery.
About the author: Dr Tamela Maciel is the Space Communications Manager at the National Space Centre.
