Abstract: The combination of Space Shuttle and Spacelab represents an important tool for space research in a variety of disciplines. This international orbital facility will be available to all levels of experimenters — be they from small laboratories or large organisations — through the 1980s. A summary description of the Space Shuttle and Spacelab programmes is provided, to help the future user in the fields covered by this book, to better appreciate the potential of the system. The material presented includes design and programmatic data and introduces the potential user to the operations associated with this advanced transportation system and orbital laboratory. The latter includes payload integration activities foreseen for Europe and the US, as well as the launch site operations necessary to put the Orbiter-Spacelab system into orbit. In addition, the general aspects of possible Spacelab utilisation are discussed, stressing the concept of reusability. Mission scenarios and tentative utilisation models are presented, the principal elements of the joint ESA-NASA payload for the first Spacelab flight are described and the proposed means of effecting a ready access for experimenters to space are outlined.
Publication Year: 1980
Publication Date: 1980-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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