German born European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Hans Schlegel has been selected for the Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-122 that will deliver ESA's Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS) in September or October 2007.
Schlegel has been a member of the European Astronaut Corps since 1998 and his first Shutt;e mission was as a German astronaut payload specialist for STS-55/Columbia in 1993.
STS-122's commander is veteran NASA astronaut Stephen Frick, Alan Poindexter is pilot and the mission specialists are Rex Walheim, Stanley Love, Leland Melvin and Hans Schlegel.
ESA’s director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain announced the selection today, which sees Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to the agency’s Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.
Schlegel will be involved in the installation, fitting-out and initial commissioning of Columbus. With its installation ESA will become a co-owner of the station. This allows the agency to have its astronauts on future ISS expeditions.
Columbus will be transported to the ISS with five internal rack facilities, Biolab, the Fluid Science Laboratory, the European Physiology Modules facility, the European Drawer Rack and the European Transport Carrier. It will also have two external experiment facilities for Columbus, the European Technology Exposure Facility and SOLAR.
The external facilities will be attached to the laboratory module's exterior during ST-55's extra vehicular activities.
Columbus will be lifted out of the Shuttle’s cargo bay by Canada’s Space Station robotic arm, Canadarm 2, and placed in position on the starboard side docking port of the European-developed Node 2 module on flight day four. Node 2 will be delivered by Shuttle mission STS-120, also in 2007.
The first of the three STS-55 EVA's will help to install and power-up Columbus. Once Columbus is attached to the station, the Columbus Control Centre at DLR's space operations centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, be responsible for Columbus' control and operation. The Centre will also coordinate Columbus experiment operations.
STS-55'S second EVA will install the external facilities and the third spacewalk will place a tank assembly on the station, a task not directly related to Columbus.
Final commissioning and initial scientific experiment work will be carried out by the resident three-person ISS crew, Expedition 16, during the weeks following the end of the Shuttle mission.
Source: Flight International
