Carry on Columbus

The International Space Station is many things, some of them concrete, others symbolic. A permanent outpost for humanity away from the Earth’s surface; a flagship for peaceful international cooperation; a laboratory for human biology; the best viewpoint humans have ever had. But the way it earns its keep is as a scientific and engineering research outpost, and the European branch of its experimental facilities is celebrating its fifth birthday.

Columbus, the European Space Agency’s section of the ISS, was taken into orbit by the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2008. Built in Italy by Alcatel Alenia Space (now part of Thales Alenia Space) and fitted out by Astrium in Bremen, Germany, Columbus is about 7m long, 4.5m in diameter, and houses experimental equipment both on its inside and outside. ‘Columbus is the flagship of European scientific engineering and a key contribution of ESA member states to the ISS success story,’ commented Jean-Jacques Dourdain, ESA director-general, at an event to mark the module’s anniversary.