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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spacelab | 2/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacelab | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:22:39.684527+00:00 | kb-cron |
The Spacelab Pallet is a U-shaped platform for mounting instrumentation, large instruments, experiments requiring exposure to space, and instruments requiring a large field of view, such as telescopes. The pallet has several hard points for mounting heavy equipment. The pallet can be used in single configuration or stacked end to end in double or triple configurations. Up to five pallets can be configured in the Space Shuttle cargo bay by using a double pallet plus triple pallet configurations. The Spacelab Pallet used to transport both Canadarm2 and Dextre to the International Space Station is currently at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, on loan from NASA through the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). A Spacelab Pallet was transferred to the Swiss Museum of Transport for permanent display on 5 March 2010. The Pallet, nicknamed Elvis, was used during the eight-day STS-46 mission, 31 July – 8 August 1992, when ESA astronaut Claude Nicollier was on board Space Shuttle Atlantis to deploy ESA's European Retrievable Carrier (Eureca) scientific mission and the joint NASA/ASI (Italian Space Agency) Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1). The Pallet carried TSS-1 in the Shuttle's cargo bay. Another Spacelab Pallet is on display at the U.S. National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. There was a total of ten space-flown Spacelab pallets.
=== Igloo === On spaceflights where a habitable module was not flown, but pallets were flown, a pressurized cylinder known as the Igloo carried the subsystems needed to operate the Spacelab equipment. The Igloo was 3 m (9.8 ft) tall, had a diameter of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in), and weighed 1,100 kg (2,400 lb). Two Igloo units were manufactured, both by Belgian company SABCA, and both were used on spaceflights. An Igloo component was flown on Spacelab 2, ASTRO-1, ATLAS-1, ATLAS-2, ATLAS-3, and ASTRO-2. A Spacelab Igloo is on display at the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in the US.
=== Instrument Pointing System === The IPS was a gimbaled pointing device, capable of aiming telescopes, cameras, or other instruments. IPS was used on three different Space Shuttle missions between 1985 and 1995. IPS was manufactured by Dornier, and two units were made. The IPS was primarily constructed out of aluminum, steel, and multi-layer insulation. IPS would be mounted inside the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter, and could provide gimbaled 3-axis pointing. It was designed for a pointing accuracy of less than 1 arcsecond (a unit of degree), and three pointing modes including Earth, Sun, and Stellar focused modes. The IPS was mounted on a pallet exposed to outer space in the payload bay. IPS missions:
Spacelab 2, a.k.a. STS-51-F launched 1985 Astro-1, a.k.a. STS-35 launched in 1990 Astro-2, a.k.a. STS-67 launched in 1995 The Spacelab 2 mission flew the Infrared Telescope (IRT), which was a 15.2 cm (6.0 in) aperture helium-cooled infrared telescope, observing light between wavelengths of 1.7 to 118 μm. IRT collected infrared data on 60% of the galactic plane.
=== List of parts ===
Examples of Spacelab components or hardware:
EVA Airlock Tunnel Tunnel adapter Igloo Spacelab module Forward end cone Aft end cone Core segment/module Experiment racks Experiment segment/module Electrical Ground Support Equipment Mechanical Ground Support Equipment Electrical Power Distribution Subsystem Command and Data Management Subsystem Environmental Control Subsystem Instrument Pointing System Pallet Structure Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure (MPESS) The Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) assembly was not Spacelab hardware, strictly speaking. However, it was used most often on Spacelab flights. Also, NASA later used it with the SpaceHab modules.
== Missions ==
Spacelab components flew on 22 Space Shuttle missions from November 1983 to April 1998. The Spacelab components were decommissioned in 1998, except the Pallets. Science work was moved to the International Space Station (ISS) and Spacehab module, a pressurized carrier similar to the Spacelab Module. A Spacelab Pallet was recommissioned in 2000 for flight on STS-99. The "Spacelab Pallet – Deployable 1 (SLP-D1) with Canadian Dextre (Purpose Dexterous Manipulator)" was launched on STS-123. The Spacelab components were used on 41 Shuttle missions in total. The habitable modules were flown on 16 Space Shuttle missions in the 1980s and 1990s. Spacelab Pallet missions were flown 6 times and Spacelab Pallets were flown on other missions 19 times.
Mission name acronyms:
ATLAS: Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science ASTRO: Not an acronym; abbreviation for "astronomy" IML: International Microgravity Laboratory LITE: Lidar In-space Technology Experiment LMS: Life and Microgravity Sciences MSL: Materials Science Laboratory SLS: Spacelab Life Sciences SRL: Space Radar Laboratory TSS: Tethered Satellite System USML: U.S. Microgravity Laboratory USMP: U.S. Microgravity Payload Besides contributing to ESA missions, Germany and Japan each funded their own Space Shuttle and Spacelab missions. Although superficially similar to other flights, they were actually the first and only non-U.S. and non-European human space missions with complete German and Japanese control.
The first West German mission Deutschland 1 (Spacelab-D1, DLR-1, NASA designation STS-61-A) took place in 1985. A second similar mission, Deutschland 2 (Spacelab-D2, DLR-2, NASA designation STS-55), was first planned for 1988, but due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, was delayed until 1993. It became the first German human space mission after German reunification. The only Japan mission, Spacelab-J (NASA designation STS-47), took place in 1992.
=== Other missions === STS-92, October 2000, PMA-3, ( Discovery) STS-108, December 2001, Lightweight Mission Peculiar Support Structure Carrier (LMC) ( Endeavour) STS-123, March 2008, Pallet ( Endeavour), Dextre
=== Cancelled missions === Spacelab-4, Spacelab-5, and other planned Spacelab missions were cancelled due to the late development of the Shuttle and the Challenger disaster.
=== Gallery ===
== Legacy ==