Title: Spacelab utilisation in Europe after the first Spacelab mission
Abstract: Four Spacelab missions following the first one are at present envisaged in the initial phase of Spacelab utilisation in Europe (1982-1984 time frame): two Demonstration Missions (micro-gravity and Earth-oriented) planned by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the framework of its Spacelab Utilisation Programme, and two additional national missions (micro-gravity and astronomy) planned by the Federal Republic of Germany and open to a complementary participation by other Europeans.
A call for experiment proposals was issued in April 1978 with the objective of identifying users' interest in order to provide a planning basis for all four missions and for the definition of their payloads.
On the basis of the proposals submitted in reply to the call, a missions analysis study has been undertaken to identify the optimum sequence, schedule and the preliminary compositions of the payloads of these missions, based on user requirements, on timely availability of experiments and facilities and on minimisation of costs associated with the missions.
This paper presents an outline of the main features of the Spacelab utilisation programme, an overview of the response to the call for experiment proposals and of the preliminary results of the missions analysis study, with emphasis on the main scientific and technical characteristics of the payloads envisaged for the four Spacelab missions.
Publication Year: 1978
Publication Date: 1978-10-01
Language: en
Type: article
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