- Astrium underlines
its competence in manned space travel
- Astrium trained the
astronauts on how to use Columbus
- Astrium
responsible for all industrial operations and exploitation activities on the European
part of the International Space Station
“Our success with Columbus is not only a great
testament to the whole Astrium team but also cements our reputation as a true
global player in the field of human space travel,” said Helmut Luttmann,
Astrium's head of ISS operation and exploitation, in Bremen.
Columbus is another
demonstration of Astrium's expertise in manned space travel. Columbus was the first space laboratory to be
equipped on the ground enabling scientific work to begin immediately after
docking with the ISS.
The Columbus
space laboratory is Europe's main contribution
to the International Space Station ISS. The laboratory made its journey to the
ISS on space shuttle "Atlantis", launched from the Kennedy Space
Center (KSC) in Florida
on 7 February 2008.
In the Columbus laboratory,
scientists can carry out experiments across a variety of disciplines
(biotechnology, medicine, material sciences, fluid sciences, human sciences)
and experiments in applied technology projects that would not possible in Earth's
gravity. One of the first experiments carried out in the Biolab was WAICO (Waving
and Coiling of Arabidopsis Roots), which studies plant growth under zero-gravity
conditions. It has already delivered some interesting preliminary results on
gravity detection and growth behaviour in response to predefined gravity
stimuli.
"The astronauts are
trained by Astrium instructors at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne. The technical training
of the astronauts who are to work in the Columbus module, and the handling of
the ATV at the space station, are part and parcel of the contract," said
Luttmann. "In principle, Astrium is involved in every mission to the Space
Station."
The industrial operation and
exploitation of the International Space Station is the result of the €2.6
billion exploitation contract between ESA and Astrium. Set to run until 2013,
the contract covers both the production of future ATV transport vehicles and
the preparation of these missions. It includes mission control and the
provision of supplies to all European elements of the ISS. The contract also
regulates the activities of the Columbus Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen,
which is operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) on behalf of Astrium.
Astrium’s aerospace engineers
spent 10 years working on the Columbus
space station module, which weighs nearly 13 metric tons. Ten European
countries are involved in the Columbus
project. The major partners involved were Germany
(51 percent), Italy (23
percent) and France
(18 percent). USA and Canada also
participated. Columbus
cost €880 million and is designed for an operational life of ten years at least.
The conceptual design of the Columbus module draws on
the experience gained by Astrium in the development and construction of the Spacelab
space laboratory begun in the late 1970s.
"After successfully
completing the Columbus and ATV development programmes, we are now focusing on
the operation and exploitation of the International Space Station,"
Luttmann concluded.
Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is
dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2007,
Astrium had a turnover of €3.5 billion and 12,000 employees in France, Germany,
the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas
of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure,
Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment and its wholly owned
subsidiary Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.
EADS
is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2007,
EADS generated revenues of €39.1 billion and employed a workforce of more
than 116, 000.
Press contacts:
Jeremy Close (Astrium UK) Tel.:
+44 (0) 1 438 77 3872
Matthieu Duvelleroy (Astrium F) Tel.:
+33 (0) 1 77 75 80 32
Kirsten Leung (Astrium Germany) Tel.: +49 (0) 421 539
53 26
Francisco
Lechón (Astrium Spain) Tel.:
+34 91 586 37 41
www.astrium.eads.net
