Europeans relieved Columbus to fly

After its planned 1992 launch, Europe's Columbus module is scheduled to fly to the Space station in early December.

European scientists are relieved that the Columbus module is buttoned up and ready to be installed in shuttle Atlantis on Nov. 12.

The European Space Agency laboratory will ride into space some 15 years after its first launch date in 1992, which was planned to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in America.

"I can't wait to see the empty place in the high bay, (where the module is stored), said mechanical systems manager Alessio Festa, an Italian who has worked on the module since 1988.

"It will be a big event," said the Italian, whose countrymen have been excited by the installation on the space station of the Italian-built Harmony module by the Discovery crew.

"I was seeing some frustration, and more than that," said Festa.

The Columbus module needs 13 kilowatts of electricity to operate. A torn solar panel does not seem like it will delay the Dec. 6 mission. Spacewalkers on Friday will try to repair the damage, but the panel seemed to be working despite the rip.

"It's not necessarily an insurmountable problem," said Debbie Hahn, NASA mission manager.

The Columbus module will carry four major science racks and two solar experiments to be mounted outside the module.

The module will help NASA and ESA perform scientific experiments to help humans adapt to weightlessness, which carries medical problems such as muscle and bone loss. Scientists working in the lab will also be able to develop new metals and materials to help advance space flight, said Gregor Woop of the Netherlands, product assurance and safety manager for the European Space Agency.

Woop has worked on the Columbus module for 22 years, through budget cuts, inter-agency political battles and delays caused by two shuttle disasters.

"There were moments of frustration," said Woop.

On an 11-day mission scheduled to launch in early December, the shuttle's robot arm will place the 25-foot by 13-foot module on the Harmony module where it will remain. Atlantis also will return with a faulty gyroscope and a nitrogen tank assembly from the space station.