Spacelab is developed on a modular basis and can be varied to meet
specific mission requirements. Its four principal components are the
pressurized module, which contains a laboratory with a shirt-sleeve
working environment; one or more open pallets that expose materials and
equipment to space; a tunnel to gain access to the module; and an
instrument pointing subsystem. Spacelab is not deployed free of the
orbiter.
The space station is a working laboratory
orbiting 240 miles above the Earth and is home to an international crew.
The station has more than 15,000 cubic feet of habitable volume, which
includes more room than a conventional three-bedroom house. The station
provides a laboratory complex where gravity, a fundamental force on
Earth, is virtually eliminated for extended periods. The ability to
control the variable of gravity in experiments creates unimaginable
research possibilities.
The station is vital to human exploration. It is where we are
learning how to combat the physiological effects of being in space for
long periods. The space station is our test bed for technologies and our
decision-making processes when things go as planned and when they
don't. It is important to learn and test these things 240 miles up
rather than encountering them 240,000 miles away while on the way to
Mars or beyond.
A
Live view of earth from the Space Station.
Photo credit and reference: NASA
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