The Columbus research laboratory en route to its new position, the right-side port of the Harmony module (Node 2). The Columbus laboratory was attached to the International Space Station ISS on 11 February 2008.
Credit: ESA/NASA.
Group photo of the STS 122 crew together with the resident crew, Expedition 16, on board the International Space Station ISS.
After undocking from the ISS, the astronauts in the Space Shuttle Atlantis look back through the shuttle window. German ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel, who, along with his colleagues on the STS-122 mission, installed the Columbus space laboratory on the ISS and commissioned it, looks back at the work they have done.
Credit: NASA.
NASA astronaut Rex Walheim during the first activity outside the spacecraft (Extra-vehicular Activity, or EVA for short) of the Columbus mission, on 11 February 2008. Together with his colleague, NASA astronaut Stanley Love, Walheim attached the Columbus space laboratory to the International Space Station ISS.
NASA astronaut Rex Walheim during his second extra-vehicular activity on 13 February 2008. Walheim is suspended from the robotic arm (Canadarm2) of the International Space Station ISS, holding a nitrogen tank. The nitrogen tank, which is the size of a refrigerator, is used in cooling the ISS.
German ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel climbed out of the International Space Station (ISS) on 13 February 2008. The main objective of his extra-vehicular activity with NASA astronaut Rex Walheim was to replace a refrigerator-sized nitrogen tank that is part of the ISS cooling system. The spacewalk lasted from 15:27 CET to 22:12 – 6 hours and 45 minutes.
German ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel performing his extra-vehicular activity during the Columbus mission, on 13 February 2008. The image was recorded while the International Space Station ISS was flying over the night-side of the Earth, almost completely unlit.
The Columbus laboratory, photographed after the undocking manoeuvre of the Space Shuttle Atlantis from the International Space Station ISS. During the so-called fly-around on 18 February 2008, the shuttle flies around the ISS. The Space Shuttle astronauts have used this opportunity to take pictures of the ISS in its current construction stage. During the STS-122 mission, the Columbus space laboratory was added - it is the horizontal, shiny drum in the image.
The European Columbus laboratory was attached to the ISS during the STS-122 mission. Columbus is a joint European project led by the European Space Agency ESA. Germany was and is prominently involved in building, operating and using Columbus. The Columbus Control Centre is located within the German Space Operations Center (Deutsches Raumfahrt-Kontrollzentrum) in Oberpfaffenhofen.
The International Space Station ISS floats above the Earth's night side. On the right-hand side of the picture, you can see the Earth's day side. In the centre of the image, you can recognise the European Columbus laboratory as a bright and shiny drum, which was attached to the ISS in February 2008.
The astronauts of the STS-122 mission after the landing, in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. From left to right: Leland Melvin, Hans Schlegel, Stanley Love, Rex Walheim, Alan Poindexter, and Stephen Frick. During its mission, the crew had attached the European space laboratory Columbus to the ISS.
Staff at the Columbus Control Center.
Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0).
View of the Columbus Control Center.