NSSDCA ID: COLMBUS
The ESA laboratory module known as the Columbus Orbital Facility (COF) will be launched and attached to Node 2 of the orbiting International Space Station sometime after the year 2002. The Columbus Polar Platform, Columbus Attached Lab, and Columbus Free-Flying Platform were early proposed ESA spacecraft to be coordinated with the proposed U.S. Space Station. Just as the early U.S. Space Station plans went through a series of re-scoping, downsizing, and internationalizing steps before eventually receiving budget approval as the U.S.-led International Space Station (ISS), these proposed Columbus plans similarly evolved into the current COF module.
The COF is a pressurized, habitable module whose structure is derived from the Italian Mini-Pressurized Logistics Module (MPLM). It is designed as a general purpose laboratory that can support any foreseen user discipline, including materials and fluid sciences, life sciences and technology development.
For more information, see the following ESA and NASA WWW pages: http://www.estec.esa.int/spaceflight/index.htm
(ISS) http://www.estec.esa.int/spaceflight/zarya.htm
(Columbus) http://www.estec.esa.nl/spaceflight/cof.htm
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/(An ISS search page) http://station.nasa.gov/station/assembly/index.html
(Zarya) http://station.nasa.gov/station/assembly/elements/fgb/
(Unity) http://station.nasa.gov/station/assembly/elements/node1/
Launch Date: 2003-01-01
Launch Vehicle: Shuttle
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States
Questions and comments about this spacecraft can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office