Editing Spacelab (section)

==Components==
[[File:STS-42 view of payload bay.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|STS-42 with Spacelab hardware in the orbiter bay overlooking Earth]]

In addition to the laboratory module, the complete set also included five external pallets for experiments in vacuum built by [[British Aerospace]] (BAe) and a pressurized "Igloo" containing the subsystems needed for the pallet-only flight configuration operation. Eight flight configurations were qualified, though more could be assembled if needed.

The system had some unique features including an intended two-week turn-around time (for the original Space Shuttle launch turn-around time) and the roll-on-roll-off for loading in aircraft (Earth-transportation).<ref name="spacelab-users-guide">{{cite web |title=Spacelab Users Guide: A Short Introduction to Spacelab and Its Use |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19770007242/downloads/19770007242.pdf#page=17 |publisher=[[ESA]] & [[NASA]] |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124152807/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19770007242/downloads/19770007242.pdf#page=17 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |page=14 |year=1977 |url-status=live |id=N77-14185 }}</ref>

[[File:Spacelab pallet.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|Diagram of Spacelab pallet module]]
Spacelab consisted of a variety of interchangeable components, with the major one being a crewed laboratory that could be flown in the Space Shuttle orbiter's bay and returned to Earth.<ref name="Angelo">{{cite book |author=Joseph Angelo |title=Dictionary of Space Technology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wSzfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA393 |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-94402-5 |page=393}}</ref> However, the habitable module did not have to be flown to conduct a Spacelab-type mission and there was a variety of pallets and other hardware supporting space research.<ref name="Angelo"/> The habitable module expanded the volume for astronauts to work in a [[shirt-sleeve environment]] and had space for equipment racks and related support equipment.<ref name="Angelo"/> When the habitable module was not used, some of the support equipment for the pallets could instead be housed in the smaller [[#Igloo|Igloo]], a pressurized cylinder connected to the Space Shuttle orbiter crew area.<ref name="Angelo"/>

Spacelab missions typically supported multiple experiments, and the [[STS-9|Spacelab 1]] mission had experiments in the fields of space plasma physics, [[solar physics]], [[atmospheric physics]], [[astronomy]], and [[Earth observation]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TweEC3h633AC&pg=PA433 |title=NASA's Scientist-Astronauts |first1=David |last1=Shayler |last2=Burgess |first2=Colin |date=2007 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-0-387-49387-9 |page=433 |bibcode=2006nasa.book.....S}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> The selection of appropriate modules was part of mission planning for Spacelab Shuttle missions, and for example, a mission might need less habitable space and more pallets, or vice versa.

===Habitable module===
<!-- [[File:SpacelabFCs.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|Spacelab flight configurations]]-->
[[File:Spacelab Module in Cargo Bay.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|Shuttle ''Columbia'' during [[STS-50]] with Spacelab Module LM1 and tunnel in its cargo bay]]

The habitable Spacelab laboratory module comprised a cylindrical environment in the rear of the Space Shuttle orbiter payload bay, connected to the orbiter crew compartment by a tunnel. The laboratory had an outer diameter of {{cvt|4.12|m}}, and each segment a length of {{cvt|2.7|m}}. The laboratory module consisted at minimum of a core segment, which could be used alone in a ''short module'' configuration. The ''long module'' configuration included an additional experiment segment.<ref name="NASA Historical Data Book">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c39sVNPngJoC&pg=PA225 |title=NASA Historical Data Book |date=1988 |publisher=Scientific and Technical Information Division, [[NASA]] |page=225|isbn=9780160805011 }} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> It was also possible to operate Spacelab experiments from the orbiter's aft flight deck.<ref name="NASA Historical Data Book"/>

[[File:Crewmembers of STS-71, Mir-18 and Mir-19 Pose for Inflight Picture - GPN-2002-000061 rotated.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|Ten people inside the Spacelab Module in June 1995, celebrating the docking of the Space Shuttle and [[Mir]]]]
The pressurized tunnel had its connection point at the orbiter's mid-deck.<ref name=Angelo2014>{{cite book |author=Joseph A. Angelo |title=Human Spaceflight |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGumSybNfFQC&pg=PA204 |year=2014 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0891-9 |page=204}}</ref> There were two different length tunnels depending on the location of the habitable module in the payload bay.<ref name=Angelo2014/> When the laboratory module was not used, but additional space was needed for support equipment, another structure called the ''Igloo'' could be used.<ref name=Angelo2014/>

[[File:Spacelab double module.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|center|Spacelab long module configuration]]
Two laboratory modules were built, identified as LM1 and LM2. LM1 is on display at the [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center]] at the [[National Air and Space Museum|Smithsonian Air and Space Museum]] behind the Space Shuttle ''Discovery''. LM2 was on display in the ''Bremenhalle'' exhibition in the [[Bremen Airport]] of [[Bremen (city)|Bremen]], Germany from 2000 to 2010. It resides in building 4c at the nearby [[Airbus Defence and Space]] plant since 2010 and can only be viewed during guided tours.

===Pallet===
[[File:STS-75 Tethered Satellite System deployment.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|[[Space tether|Tethered]] Satellite System deployment, deployed from Spacelab pallet]]

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).<ref name=SLP-D1>{{cite web |url=http://aviation.technomuses.ca/media/press_releases/20sep12/ |title=Spacelab pallet completes its long journey arriving at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum}}</ref>

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]]) [[space tether|Tethered Satellite System]] (TSS-1). The Pallet carried TSS-1 in the Shuttle's cargo bay.<ref name=ESA-STS46>{{cite web |url=https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/ESA_hands_over_a_piece_of_space_history |title=ESA hands over a piece of space history |publisher=ESA}}</ref>

Another Spacelab Pallet is on display at the U.S. [[National Air and Space Museum]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/spacelab-pallet-3462 |title=Spacelab Pallet}}</ref> There was a total of ten space-flown Spacelab pallets.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.space.com/23796-spacelab-space-shuttle-30-years-anniversary.html |title=Spacelab: Space Shuttle Flew Europe's First Space Module 30 Years Ago |date=2 December 2013 |publisher=Space.com}}</ref>

===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.<ref name=HS-book>{{cite book |title=Human Spaceflight |author=Joseph A. Angelo |publisher=Infobase Publishing |page=[https://archive.org/details/humanspaceflight0000ange/page/272 p. 272] |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-8160-5775-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/humanspaceflight0000ange/page/272}}</ref> The Igloo was {{cvt|3|m}} tall, had a diameter of {{cvt|1.5|m}}, and weighed {{cvt|1100|kg}}.<ref name=NASM>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19990001003 |title=Spacelab Subsystems Igloo |publisher=National Air and Space Museum |access-date=23 November 2010}}</ref> Two Igloo units were manufactured, both by [[Belgium]] company [[Société Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques|SABCA]], and both were used on spaceflights.<ref name=NASM/> An Igloo component was flown on [[STS-51-F |Spacelab 2]], [[STS-35|ASTRO-1]], ATLAS-1, ATLAS-2, ATLAS-3, and ASTRO-2.<ref name=NASM/>

A Spacelab Igloo is on display at the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center]] in the US.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/spacelab-subsystems-igloo |title=Spacelab, Subsystems Igloo |date=2016-04-09 |work=National Air and Space Museum |access-date=2018-07-15}}</ref>

===Instrument Pointing System===
The IPS was a gimbaled pointing device, capable of aiming telescopes, cameras, or other instruments.<ref name="airandspace.si.edu">{{cite web |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/spacelab-instrument-pointing-system |title=Spacelab, Instrument Pointing System |date=17 March 2016}}</ref> IPS was used on three different Space Shuttle missions between 1985 and 1995.<ref name="airandspace.si.edu"/> IPS was manufactured by [[Dornier Flugzeugwerke|Dornier]], and two units were made.<ref name="airandspace.si.edu"/> The IPS was primarily constructed out of aluminum, steel, and [[multi-layer insulation]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/spacelab-instrument-pointing-system |title=Spacelab, Instrument Pointing System |date=2016-03-18}}</ref>

IPS would be mounted inside the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter, and could provide gimbaled 3-axis pointing.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> 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.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Heusmann |first1=H. |last2=Wolf |first2=P. |date=1985 |title=The Spacelab Instrument Pointing System (IPS) and its first flight |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234272535 |journal=ESA Bulletin |volume=44 |pages=75–79 |bibcode=1985ESABu..44...75H}}</ref> The IPS was mounted on a pallet exposed to outer space in the payload bay.<ref name=":0"/>

IPS missions:<ref name="airandspace.si.edu"/>
* Spacelab 2, a.k.a. [[STS-51-F]] launched 1985
* Astro-1, a.k.a. [[STS-35]] launched in 1990<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-35.html |title=NASA – STS-35 |first=Lynda Warnock |last=KSC}}</ref>
* Astro-2, a.k.a. [[STS-67]] launched in 1995

The Spacelab 2 mission flew the [[infrared telescope|Infrared Telescope]] (IRT), which was a {{cvt|15.2|cm}} aperture helium-cooled infrared telescope, observing light between wavelengths of 1.7 to 118 μm.<ref name=kent>[https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1992ApJS...78..403K Kent, et al. – ''Galactic structure from the Spacelab infrared telescope'' (1992)]</ref> IRT collected infrared data on 60% of the galactic plane.<ref name="ipac.caltech.edu">{{cite web |url=http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/outreach/Edu/orbit.html |title=History of Infrared Astronomy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221020839/http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/outreach/Edu/orbit.html |archive-date=2016-12-21}}</ref>
{{See also|List of space telescopes}}

<gallery>
Spacelab IPS.jpg|Instrument Pointing System (IPS)
Astro2 sts67 big.jpg|IPS at work above the sky on Astro-2, 1995
Spacelab Instrument Pointing System at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Dec 2017.jpg|Dornier Instrument Pointing System at the Smithsonian Museum (Udvar Hazy Center)
</gallery>

===List of parts===
[[File:Spacelab engineering model components unloaded from C-5 Galaxy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|Spacelab components are delivered, 1981.]]
[[File:MSFC-9010026 - STS-35 ASTRO-1 in OV-102's payload bay at KSC.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|ASTRO-1 payload prepared, 1990]]

Examples of Spacelab components or hardware:{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}
* EVA Airlock
* Tunnel<ref name="NASA Historical Data Book"/>
* Tunnel adapter<ref name="NASA Historical Data Book"/>
* Igloo
* Spacelab module<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book |title=NASA Historical Data Book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c39sVNPngJoC&pg=PA225 |year=1988 |publisher=Scientific and Technical Information Division, [[NASA]] |page=225| isbn=9780160805011 }} {{Source-attribution}}</ref>
** Forward end cone
** Aft end cone
** Core segment/module<ref name="NASA Historical Data Book"/>
** Experiment racks
** Experiment segment/module<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* 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.