ESA awaits Space Shuttle’s return to flight

The US Space Shuttle is poised to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center as of 13 July on a 12-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The success of that mission will give new omentum to the ISS, as future Shuttle missions will be transporting large modules from ESA, the Columbus laboratory, Japan and the US into orbit to continue the Space Station’s construction. Eleven European countries, represented by ESA, together with the US, Russia, Japan and Canada are building the ISS.

ESA’s Columbus and its sophisticated experiment facilities will allow crews of astronauts to conduct research and development in microgravity in material sciences, medicine, biology and technology, many eventually leading to benefits for everyday life on Earth. The work on board will be controlled from a mission control centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich in Germany.

Thomas Reiter

The return-to-flight of the Space Shuttle also opens the door for missions by ESA astronauts, with Thomas Reiter of Germany scheduled to fly on the subsequent Space Shuttle in September for a six-month stay on board the ISS, and Christer Fuglesang of Sweden on a Shuttle mission in early 2006.

Other recent stories..

Other News Stories

• Get our news headlines for your website - click here
• Submit your news story - click here