human spaceflight 25 years of european human …human spaceflight 6 esa bulletin 116 - november 2003...

Human Spaceflight

6 esa bulletin 116 - november 2003 www.esa.int

25 Years ofEuropean HumanSpaceflightJörg Feustel-BüechlESA Director of Human Spaceflight, Research and Applications,ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

FEUSTEL 12/3/03 1:47 PM Page 6

esa bulletin 116 - november 2003www.esa.int 7

Just a few weeks ago, on 28 August2003, in the company of the Presidentof the Federal Republic of Germany,Johannes Rau, we celebrated the 25thAnniversary of Sigmund Jähn’s flightto the Russian Salyut 6 space stationaboard a Soyuz spacecraft. This flight lasted from 26 August until 3 September 1978 and was actually thethird flight by a European astronaut,following those of Czechoslovakia’sVladimir Remek and Poland’s MiroslavHermascewski in 1978.

This year we also celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the first Spacelabflight (STS-9) with the ESA astronautUlf Merbold, who was in orbit from

28 November until 8 December 1978,together with five American astronauts.He had trained for more than fiveyears for that flight, together with hisESA colleague Wubbo Ockels whoserved as his back-up.

A total of 44 missions involving 30astronauts from ESA Member Stateshave taken place, 26 of which wereperformed in co-operative programmeswith NASA, whilst 18 flights usedRussian space vehicles.

Two more missions are presentlyplanned, one with the Soyuz vehicleand one with the Space Shuttle, all tothe International Space Station (ISS).With an average of two flights taking

place per year and a good balance ofcooperative missions with Russia andthe United States, Europe has achieveda high level of astronaut missions withoutstanding scientific results andoperational experience.

The integration of all Europeanastronauts into a single EuropeanAstronaut Corps, presently comprising15 astronauts, and the creation of anEAC Team made up of experts fromseveral Member States and ESA,has created an efficient supportorganisation enabling Europe tomaster future missions and theireffective preparation.

25 Years of European Human Spaceflight


Human Spaceflight


The Beginnings

The start of Europe’s involvement inhuman spaceflight activities dates back to1969, when NASA invited ESA toparticipate in the Post-Apollo Programme.In December 1972, Europe opted to

develop the modular Spacelab system asan integral element of the US SpaceTransportation System. The maiden flightof Spacelab in November 1983 saw the firstESA astronaut, Ulf Merbold, venturing intospace as the first non-American astronauton a US space vehicle.

In 1971, while in the USA the ApolloProgramme was still in full swing, theSoviet Union had launched and tested itsfirst space station, Salyut 1. After makingseveral modifications to the followingSalyuts, the second-generation Salyut 6and 7 stations appeared in 1977 and 1982,respectively. With an additional dockingport to receive the unmanned Progresslogistics spacecraft, the crews could stayaboard the station for a longer period, andvisiting crews were able to join them.Cosmonauts mainly from other Soviet-bloccountries were invited during the‘Intercosmos Programme’ to visit thestations. The first non-Russian wasVladimir Remek from Czechoslovakia in1978, and the third was the GermanSigmund Jähn from the GermanDemocratic Republic in the same year.

Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for implementationof the Spacelab programme on 24 September 1973

Cosmonauts and astronauts during the celebration of “25 Years of German Spaceflight” in August 2003, together with German President Johannes Rau and Edelgard Bulmahn, Minister ofEducation and Research (fourth and second from right in front row)



Until the disintegration of the SovietUnion, the Russian-built space stationshosted other astronauts from ESA MemberStates, selected and trained for theirmissions through their national spaceagencies. The first of them was theFrenchman Jean-Loup Chrétien fromCNES, who visited Salyut 7 in 1982.

The subsequent years were characterisedby cooperative programmes between thetwo providers of human-rated transport-ation systems, the USA with its SpaceShuttle and Russia with its Soyuz rocket onone side, and ESA, national agencies andeven private ventures, with Helen Sharmanas the first female European cosmonaut tovisit Mir (in 1991), on the other.

The time after the first recruitment ofEuropean astronauts in 1977 by ESA,followed by the establishment of astronautoffices at CNES and DLR in 1980 and1983, respectively, saw the cooperationbetween ESA and NASA grow within theSpacelab development and utilisation plan,and thus also the training of ESAastronauts as mission and payloadspecialists to fly on the Space Shuttle.During this period, DLR had its owncooperative bilateral programmes with

NASA, by exploiting its national Spacelab-D1 and D2 missions. Also, CNES had astrong cooperative programme, with itsastronauts flying on both the Russian andthe US space vehicles.

Altogether, therefore, ESA, CNES andDLR astronauts made a number of suchcooperative flights with the USSR/Russiaon the Soyuz rocket to the Russian Salyutand Mir space stations, and with NASA onthe Space Shuttle for science, satellite

deployment and repair missions, andmissions to the Mir space station and latelyto the ISS.

When US President Ronald Reagan firstannounced the Space Station (called‘Freedom’ at that time) project in 1984 andinvited in following years the activeparticipation of Europe, Japan and Canada,ESA began its own ambitious programme,encompassing the Columbus Programmewith the Attached Pressurised Module forthe Space Station, the Man-Tended FreeFlyer, the serviceable Polar Platform andthe manned Hermes spaceplane. Inaddressing the resulting long-term need forastronauts, ESA also established theEuropean Astronaut Centre (EAC) in 1990in Cologne (D), and initiated its secondastronaut-selection process a year later.Only in 1998 did the ESA Council decideto create a single European AstronautCorps by integrating astronauts from theMember States’ national space agenciesinto the existing ESA Astronaut Corps.

Hence the legacy of Human Spaceflightin Europe is now being carried forward byESA, based on the heritage of 44 astronautmissions with 30 European astronauts on37 missions, 19 with the Space Shuttle and18 with the Soyuz transportation system.


Milestones in Human Spaceflight

12 April 1961 1st human in space: Yuri Gagarin

21 July 1969 1st human on the Moon: Neil Armstrong

2 March 1978 1st European in space: Vladimir Remek (CSR)

Nov/Dec. 1983 1st ESA astronaut in space: Ulf Merbold (Spacelab-1)

May 1990 Birth of European Astronaut Centre (EAC)

Sept. 1995/Feb. 1996 Longest European spaceflight: Thomas Reiter (Mir)

March 1998 Formation of the single European Astronaut Corps, integrating all ESA Member State astronauts

April/May 2000 First European visit to the ISS: Umberto Guidoni (STS-100)

Ulf Merbold during the Spacelab-1 mission


Human Spaceflight


ESA and ESA Member State Astronauts in Space

30 European astronauts participated in 37 spaceflight missions, the sum of missions for all astronauts is 44Flown as astronauts: D: 10; F: 9; I: 4; B: 2; NL: 2; A: 1; CH: 1; S: 1; E: 1; UK: 1 (including current assignments)Assignments per Country: F: 16; D: 13; I: 5; CH: 4; B: 2; E: 2; NL: 2; A: 1; UK: 1; S: 1

Status November 2003




Cooperative Programmes with NASA

Within its cooperative program-mes, and subject to the constraintsof the Space Shuttle schedule,mission objectives and overalloperations requirements, NASAoffered ‘best effort’ flight assign-ments to ESA and national agencyastronauts working and training atits Johnson Space Center inHouston. As far as possible,NASA treats these astronauts,once accepted and integrated intothe NASA Astronaut Office, justlike US astronauts in terms offlight assignments. In the past, itsgoal was to assign astronautcandidates to their first flightwithin three years of successfulcompletion of their ‘BasicTraining’.

In this context, NASA and ESA havealways recognised and supported theobjective of a joint astronaut trainingapproach under a ‘Mission SpecialistTraining Agreement’, to ensure theavailability of qualified Mission Specialistmembers of the European Astronaut Corps as a key element in the continued success of ESA/NASA cooperation. Thiscooperation has led in the past to spaceflights developed through joint program-mes such as Spacelab, Eureca, HubbleSpace Telescope, Tethered Satellite, SRTMand MPLM, involving NASA, ESA and the ESA Member States,and now most recently theInternational Space Station.

Spacelab was the result ofnegotiations in whichcontributions to the SpaceShuttle Programme andelements of space stationswere discussed. Europe, at that time represented by theEuropean Space ResearchOrganisation (ESRO, whichwas ESA’s predecessor),focused more and more on the development of a spacelaboratory in which scientificmissions of up to nine days’duration could be conducted.

The laboratory’s initial design was as a‘Sortie Can’ to be carried into orbit in theSpace Shuttle’s cargo bay. Its initiallyagreed free-flying mode was laterabandoned, and it thus became ‘Spacelab’.Unlike Skylab, the first US space stationwhich had been integrated mostly fromexisting Apollo hardware and waslaunched in 1973, Spacelab was a newconstruction offering a much wider rangeof applications.

As a result of its numerous missions,Spacelab turned out to be the mostimportant and most frequently flownShuttle payload system to date. Between

1982 and 1998, when theSpacelab Programme wasterminated after the NASANeurolab mission, the LongModule of Spacelab flew 16times, primarily for life andphysical sciences payloads, andSpacelab Pallet-only missionswere flown six times, primarilyfor disciplines like astronomy,astrophysics and atmosphericphysics. Together with the non-ESA astronauts, nine Europeansworked aboard Spacelab, asresearchers and systems andpayload specialists.

Cooperative Programmes with the SovietUnion/Russia

The first generation of Soviet spacestations, from Salyut 1 to Salyut 5, wascharacterised by a number of technologicaland operational achievements importantfor the sustained operation of spacestations, but also by a number of failures.Although Salyut 1 was launched and testedsuccessfully, this first mission endedtragically when all three cosmonauts lost their lives following the suddendecompression of their Soyuz capsuleduring reentry. After a brief pause and

several redesigns, the crewedflights to the Salyut stationswere resumed.

The second-generationSoviet space station Salyut 6(1977-82) received 16 crews,carried aloft by 12 Progresscapsules, and Salyut 7 (1982-1991) 10 crews, transported by 13 Progress capsules with25 tonnes of equipment andpropellant. Each of these

Umberto Guidoni, Mission Specialist on STS-100,training at the NASA Johnson Space Center

ESA astronauts Reinhard Furrer (left) andWubbo Ockels conducting experiments duringthe Spacelab-D1 mission in 1985


Human Spaceflight


stations hosted six long-durationflights, in which the stays onboardwere increased from 185 days(Salyut 6) to 237 days. Thanks tothe additional Progress logistics craft,many science-trained astronautsfrom Soviet-bloc countries wereable to visit the two stations as partof the Interkosmos Programme.Vladimir Remek (CZ), MiroslavHermascewski (PL) and SigmundJähn (GDR) were followed as non-Russian cosmonauts by G. Ivanovfrom Bulgaria in 1979, B. Farkasfrom Hungary in 1980, and D.Prunariu from Romania in 1981.The CNES astronaut Jean-LoupChrétien followed in 1982 as thefirst astronaut from an ESAMember State to visit the Salyutstation.

In February 1986, the thirdgeneration of Russian space stations wasintroduced with the launch of the Mir coremodule, and five other modules, Kvant(1987), Kvant 2 (1989), Kristall (1990)Spektr (1995) and Priroda (1996),followed. Unlike the earlierstations, Mir had at its front end asix-fold berthing adapter, whichmeant that four additional modules,besides Soyuz and Progress space-craft, could be attached.

By 1990, the T-shaped Mirstation measured 33 m in length,was 28 m high, and had an overallmass of 70 tonnes. However, theSoviet Union’s political and socialrestructuring was already givingrise to public discussion about theaims and objectives of mannedspaceflight. After the Union’s disso-lution this discussion continued,leading ultimately to the cancellationof the Buran spaceplane andEnergia heavy-lift launcher program-mes. Thus only one of the threemain programmes survived, theMir space station. Except for twoshort breaks, from July 1986 toFebruary 1987 and from April toSeptember 1989, this station waspermanently crewed until just afew weeks before its de-orbiting in

March 2001. European Astronauts made atotal of 12 missions to Mir, including therecord 179-day flight by Thomas Reiter in1995/96.

Current and Future Activities at theEuropean Astronaut Centre

The roots of ESA’s EuropeanAstronaut Centre (EAC) inCologne (D) reach back to 1977.At that time, the Agency’s first fourastronauts were selected, followinga pre-selection process by theMember States, for training for theSpacelab-1 mission. The Centrewas formally created, to meet thedeveloping long-term need forastronauts, in May 1990, when theHost Agreement between ESA andthe German national authoritieswas signed.

EAC rapidly became the homebase for all European astronauts, followingthe selection of six more astronautcandidates in 1992. As Hermes, the Free-Flyer and the Polar Platform had all been

cancelled by then, the Centrefocused on supporting ESA’sastronauts assigned to InternationalSpace Station precursor missionsaboard the Shuttle/Spacelab andMir. Their training programme wasdeveloped in close cooperationwith NASA and Russia’s GagarinCosmonaut Training Centre, andwas first applied to the payloadtraining for the Euromir-94/95missions.

A key milestone for EAC wasthe ESA Council decision in March1998 to integrate all Europeanastronauts henceforth into a singleEuropean Astronaut Corps. Thisintegration process, recently finallycompleted, has resulted in a Corpsof presently 15 astronauts. Itsstructure, including the number andage distribution of the astronauts,

The Mir station

Thomas Reiter during his mision aboard Mir inNovember 1995




is driven by the capabilities required tosupport European human spaceflightmissions for the pursuit of space exploration,science and technology, and theirapplications, consistent with approved andplanned funding, and with particularemphasis on flights to the ISS.

In parallel with the coming together ofEurope’s astronauts, an expert staff forastronaut training and medical support wasalso assembled at EAC, with team membersbeing seconded from the German, Frenchand Italian space agencies. Started in April2000 for an initial period of 4 years, thisinitiative has recently been extended until2007. This very successful cooperativeendeavour covers all aspects of astronautactivities, such as the management of theEuropean Astronaut Corps, the training ofISS-bound astronauts from ESA and all ofthe Partners, and the necessary medicalsupport.

The formation of the single EuropeanAstronaut Corps and the build-up of theEAC Team were important decisions thathave ultimately provided Europe with anorganisation matching its responsibilities

as an ISS Partner and allowing forsignificant savings in the national budgets.However, an updating of the originallyestablished European Astronaut Policy waseventually needed to take into accountmany new developments, including theexpected number of flight opportunities,the evolution of the ISS programme andthe Station’s commercial utilisationaspects, together with the inclusion of toolsfor flexible management of the Corps.

In June 2002, therefore, the ESA Councilapproved an updated Policy, includingsuch important aspects as: Selection and Recruitment, Mission Assignment,Management of the Astronaut Corps,Astronaut Public Appearances, Support toCommercialisation, Nationally SponsoredMissions, Other Roles for EuropeanAstronauts, and National Agency Support toEAC. With this updated Policy, there arenow clear guidelines in place for the futureactivities of the Centre, with trainingfocusing for the next decade on thepreparations for and execution of astronautmissions to the ISS, be they short-duration(about 2 weeks) or full-increment (up to 6

months) missions, either with Soyuzvehicles or with the Space Shuttle.

Apart from being the home base of theEuropean astronauts and the managementand technical base for ESA’s astronautactivities, EAC has become the focal pointfor all ISS astronaut training on Europeanelements of the Space Station, includingthe Columbus module, its onboardscientific facilities, and the ATV. Theseactivities have already started and willreach their peak in 2004.

The European Astronaut Corps. From left-front: Duque, Thiele,Clervoy, Guidoni, Eyharts, Ewald, Vittori and Nicollier. From left-back: Nespoli, Reiter, Fuglesang, De Winne, Tognini (left Corps inMay 2003 to become Head of Astronaut Division, EAC), Schelgel,Perrin and Kuipers


Human Spaceflight


In spaceflight, has anything changedsignificantly since you first went up onSpacelab-1 in 1983 as the first ESAastronaut?

Yes – today, we have a very different andin my opinion better situation. First andmost important of all is that the Cold Waris now history and that consequently themajor space powers have moved fromconfrontation to cooperation. Allcountries that have a potential to fly tospace are involved in constructing theInternational Space Station (ISS). And ona more scientific and less political level:the ISS is a reality, it is a laboratory thatis available to scientists not only for a few

days, but for long periods of time – andthey are using it 24 hours a day hopefullyfor the next 15 years.

Another very recent important change is that China has just launched its first‘taikonaut’. This should lead to a moreintensified initiative in Europe than therehas been in the last ten years – either tocooperate with China or to push Europeanresearch and development. A new crewcapsule from Europe, for example, wouldmake the ISS much more valuable. We do not have a rescue system on the ISSthat could bring six or seven astronautsand cosmonauts back to Earth in anemergency. Ignoring the impact of theColumbia catastrophe, there is only

capacity for a crew of threeonboard ISS in the near future.A rescue capsule would meana crew of six or seven andmore time and manpower forscience, and at the same timeit would upgrade Europe froma junior partner to a majorplayer on an equal footing withthe United States and Russia.

As far as science is concerned,Europeans are well establishedand recognised in this field.This was already the case at

the time of Spacelab. Our experiments –past and future ones – are at least of thesame quality as US experiments, if notbetter. On Spacelab, we had 72 experimentsfrom a huge variety of scientificdisciplines – plasma physics, earthobservation, atmospheric physics,material sciences, physiology,astrophysics and many more. Resources,including astronaut time and energy, wereshared equally between the US andEurope, even though there were 13American and 59 European instruments.Although in comparison this meant anadvantage in resources for the Americans,our experiments were more sophisticatedand extremely well prepared, so theydelivered the more impressive results!

How and why did you become anastronaut?

I have a strong curiosity and I love science.I worked for ten years in the Max PlanckInstitute for Metals Research in Stuttgart,studying point defects in metals in thefield of experimental solid-state physics.It was a fascinating time because MaxPlanck Institutes are leading scientificinstitutions in Germany. However, I didnot like concentrating on a single narrowfield of science in order to be efficientand create new scientific knowledge.Science nowadays is such a tremendouslyvast field that it is impossible for onesingle human being to know everything. Iwas about 35 or 36 and felt that I was at apoint in life to take a strategic decision,either to continue in my career andbecome a professor or to add newdisciplines to what I knew already. Ibrowsed through weekend newspapersand came across an ad where the GermanAerospace Centre (DLR) on behalf ofESA announced the opportunity to fly onthe first Spacelab mission as a payloadspecialist. In terms of scientific fields thiswas a very colourful and attractiveprogramme. I loved flying anyhow, and so I applied. After one year I signed myESA contract to become one of the firstthree ESA astronauts – and I do not regret this!

At that time it was still not certainwhether human spaceflight would beaccepted as a permanent programmewithin ESA or whether it would beterminated after Spacelab-1. There weretimes when I did not feel secure, but itwas a great endeavour. It was fascinatingto work with so many different scientists,to talk to and learn from so many peoplefrom different backgrounds. WubboOckels and I put our noses into all of thevarious fields – vestibular research,plasma research (trying to produceartificial northern lights by firingpowerful electron beams into theatmosphere), biology, physiology, etc.

Ulf Merbold, born in June 1941 in Greiz,Germany, was the first ESA astronaut to fly inspace and the first non-American aboard a USspacecraft. Twenty years ago, from 28 Novemberto 8 December 1983, Merbold flew on the SpaceShuttle as a Payload Specialist for the NASA-ESA Spacelab-1 mission. He returned to space inJanuary 1992 for the Shuttle's IML-1 InternationalMicrogravity Laboratory Spacelab mission, andhe then became the first ESA astronaut aboardRussia’s Mir space station for the Euromir-94mission of 3 October to 4 November 1994.

INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERV




RVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWSSpace – Where Humans Make a Difference…Twenty years since Spacelab-1! I remember the hard work, the excitement, the anticipation of great things, but also the concern about events possibly going wrongon this mission at the end of 1983. This was really a pioneering effort. The first time that ESA, NASA, aerospace industry groups and a large number of scientistteams from all over Europe and the United States worked together on a human spaceflight with the Shuttle freshly out of its official orbital test phase (and weknow now that it never really got out of this test phase, even after more that 100 flights…), a laboratory made in Europe on its first flight, and an array ofscientific experiments covering all disciplines of the space sciences. What a challenge! And what a success! I really think that Spacelab-1 set a positive tone for allthe Shuttle-based space science missions that followed, and there were many of them. My congratulations to the whole team, and my gratitude for proving acapability that had never been demonstrated before! My deepest respect for the flight crew, also, led by John Young, with Brewster Shaw, Owen Garriott, RobertParker, Byron Lichtenberg and, last but not least, Ulf Merbold.

As a member of the first group of ESA astronauts, together with Ulf Merbold and Wubbo Ockels, I followed the final steps of preparation for this mission and themission itself with great interest, although I had stopped being directly involved with it since mid-1980. Wubbo successfully flew a couple of years later on theSpacelab-D1 mission. My turn came much later, in July 1992, and on a very different kind of mission: deployment of the Eureca Scientific Platform, andperformance of the first test of the Italian-American Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1). I had the great privilege of taking part in three additional spaceflightsbefore the end of 1999. Two of these were visits to the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) for repairs and maintenance of the orbiting observatory. I did notfly on Spacelab but had the opportunity to serve the scientific community by other means!

Human intervention on HST has been very successful on all servicing mission so far. Although quite complex, the Telescope would have been immensely morecomplex and expensive had it been designed to be serviced by robotic means. It would have remained ineffective (spherical aberration caused by the faulty shapeof the primary mirror, 1990; jitter caused by the original solar arrays, 1990), and later decommissioned (rate sensor unit failures, 1999) without in-orbit servicingcapability. On numerous occasions during the three servicing missions so far the flexibility of human intervention was used to engage alternate vs. plannedoperational paths, which is typically the kind of action robots or automatic systems are not well suited for (solar array jettison, 1993; HST aft shroud door openingand closing problems, 1993 and 1999).

The Tethered Satellite System was another Shuttle payload whose operation was heavily dependent on humans. Satellite deployment and retrieval and the activedamping of the satellite and tether oscillation modes were strictly dependent on manual intervention with the Orbiter’s thrusters. Here again, this was a question ofcost. The system was very experimental and it would have been unwise topay the large cost of automation for a complex system in its early testingand development stage. The TSS concept has not been pursued in itsdynamical and electrodynamical applications for International SpaceStation support, but it is only a question of time before the concept comesback as an effective way to control Station orbital altitude without the use ofpropellant.

In addition to Spacelab, HST and TSS are two examples of Shuttle-borne,operated or serviced systems where human involvement in orbit made ahuge difference. In general, interactive space laboratory facilities, complexspace systems servicing and maintenance, or new systems in their test orearly development stage, benefit enormously from human intervention inspace.

We have benefited tremendously from all aspects of space utilisation andexploration since we first ventured beyond the Earth’s atmosphere morethan forty years ago, and since the first Spacelab mission twenty yearsago. I am absolutely convinced that we should continue the journey, buildon what has been accomplished so far in research and exploration, andfinally attempt to establish and exploit several working regions in space,properly interconnected. Achieving such objectives will make a significantdifference to future human development.

Claude NicollierESA Astronaut


Human Spaceflight


In my opinion, a good experiment has tobe at the border between the known andthe unknown because it tries to find newresults. We not only had to familiariseourselves with the basics of the newfields, we actually had to reach the top ofknowledge, the grey area between theknown and the unknown, in order tounderstand and operate the experimentproperly. We learned the means andmethods of all the experiments and thereasons why they had to do it in orbit. Itwas a sparkling intellectual atmosphere!

Spaceflight is intensely emotional – but itis also intensely intellectual. I think I amreally lucky to have had the opportunityto widen my views from a narrow field toa more general knowledge. We also had tolearn many practical things, like drawinga blood sample, and got a lot of hands-ontraining. After all, performing experimentsis like playing the violin or any otherinstrument: you have to know the theoryto produce sounds, but you also have todevelop skills and a sense for virtuosity.

You said that spaceflight is bothemotional and intellectual.You havespoken a lot about the intellectual side– how about your emotions when youheard that you would fly?

That was a situation of mixed feelings –Wubbo and I were close friends, we hadbeen working together for two years inHuntsville, Alabamaand at the end ofthe training in the

Marshall Spaceflight Center we knew that only one of us could be the first.However, when the German governmentdecided to fly the German-D1 mission,Mr Finke, a high official in the Ministry,promised that the astronaut serving asbackup for Spacelab-1 would fly on D1,so in the end it was not that complicatedbecause we both had the guarantee thatwe would fly.

In Huntsville, we had been working withthe computer system that simulated thecomplete Spacelab-1 configuration,scientific experiments and potentialproblems. We had the same knowledge,and in the end the investigators’ workinggroup had to take the decision betweenthe two of us and their recommendationwas in my favour. Of course I was happy,but I would have preferred to have theopportunity to share the experience withhim. After all these years I am stillgrateful to Wubbo that he, after a veryshort moment of frustration, accepted tobe the backup and to do his utmost tomake Spacelab-1 a successful flight. Thesuccess of this mission was also a boostto continue with D1. After my flight,Wubbo and I went straight into trainingfor the next mission, this time withreversed roles.

Let’s talk about the flight itself. Whatdo you remember most, both in termsof science and the flight experience?

I couldn’t pick one memory above theother, there are so many… We as crewhad different roles. For some experimentswe were merely lab technicians – we putmaterials sealed in cartridges into furnaces,heated, melted, solidified the materials,pushed buttons and started computerprograms. In other cases we were inscientific control of the experiments, andsome of them were almost artistic – forexample a silicon crystal experiment in afurnace called the Mirror Heating Facility.The investigator taught us to observe theliquid zone of the crystal rod, make anassessment of how long it would takeuntil it would become unstable, what thematerial should look like and what toexpect to be able to judge the next step.From a crew point of view, theseexperiments are more interesting of course.

I also remember experiments from a teamfrom the University of Mainz in Germany– they had all sorts of different vestibularexperiments, and we had to work in ateam with one astronaut acting as testsubject and another performing the tests.These experiments had many functionalobjectives, and after a lot of training theexperimenters gave us carte blanche. “Youhave control because you know as muchas we do, use your senses”, they said. Ofcourse this kind of relationship has twosides: we were proud that they trusted us,but we also felt a huge responsibility.

Many of the experiments were fantasticscience with fantastic results. One ofthem is a phenomenon that is stillunexplained today – the fact that thecaloric nystagmus can also be stimulatedin microgravity. Theory predicted it couldn’tbecause it is a reflex that scientists thoughthad to do with convection in the inner ear.The nystagmus reflex originates from theinner ear and acts on the eye; the ear is ina way ‘calling on the eye for help’ to findout what kind of movement it experiences,and it can be stimulated either by spinningthe test subject or heating one and coolingthe other outer ear.


Valery Polyakov taking a bloodsample from Ulf Merbold during

his Mir mission



We didn’t have many real ESA Spacelabflights. It is a pity that we built thiswonderful laboratory and did not have autilisation programme. We participated as‘guest agency’ in other Spacelab flights,for example the InternationalMicrogravity Laboratory, which wasbasically a NASA mission with ESAparticipation. Mission management,astronaut training, etc. were in the handsof NASA. ESA also participated in D1,which was a German flight. Again, therewas no ESA mission managementresponsibility; we were just flyingexperiments, just like on D2. After D1came the decision not to continue withvestibular experiments because space wasneeded for the Anthrorack, whichconcentrated more on cardiovascularexperiments. So it is still an open question


RVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWSThe Road Ahead is Open...Coming from an operational background, I would like to focus on the particular need of ‘operational expertise’. In the fifties and sixties, the space budgets of the space-faring nations were almost unlimited and dreamers and explorers shaped the conquest of space. These dreams have given way to reality. Nowadays, space exploration isdictated by accounts and budgets. But space is more than just short-term investment in technology and research. People are not only scientists or engineers; they are alsopoets, dreamers, explorers and adventurers. In the past, these explorers and adventurers have discovered and opened new frontiers. Humankind has conquered the land,the oceans and the sky, and finally we have made our first steps into space. We will always try to go beyond the next horizon, to explore the unknown; it is in our genes.Every time we have done so, the long-term results have proved to be beneficial. Every day, we travel safely on the seas and in the air. Now the time has come forhumankind to take the next logical step: the establishment of a civilisation that routinely ventures out in space. Despite budget difficulties and dramatic setbacks such asthe loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, we now have established a permanent human presence inspace with the ISS. It is imperative that we continue to invest wisely. In the past, Europe has done thisand has acquired independent unmanned access to space. However, if it wants to be a major player infurther space exploration and in establishing day-to-day space travel, it will also have to establish acapability in human access to space. This will require not only the further development of newtechnologies but also the establishment of solid operational expertise. In my past career as a militarypilot I have participated in several operations. Although technology has always played a big part inthe success, the biggest contributor was without doubt the people (ground crew and aviators alike)who participated in the operations. Their motivation, resourcefulness and inventiveness to solveproblems, their ability to adapt quickly to ever-changing situations and their capacity to work as ateam made all the difference. These capabilities were acquired through many years of training andinvestment in operational skills. In reading the initial reports of the crew aboard the InternationalSpace Station, I find much resemblance to this. The years of investing in training, operation centres,procedures and Mir and Shuttle operations are really paying off. The role of Europe in mannedspaceflight will depend greatly on the quality of its operators and on the will to invest in people aswell as in technology. Therefore it is absolutely necessary as we move towards more operationalcapabilities by developing additional hardware that Europe also continues to invest in humanoperational expertise. The first steps into space have already been taken. The road ahead is open. All Europe really needs is the will to travel.

Frank De WinneESA Astronaut

why the caloric nystagmus can bestimulated in microgravity.

How was life on board?

It was marvellous. Spacelab was a verycomfortable lab, and it is sad that NASAstopped with it after roughly 20 flightsand switched to Spacehab. Spacelabworked perfectly, it was quiet, had a goodlife support system, super air quality, niceillumination and other fantastic features,for example the airlock through which wecould transfer experiments into space andback into the lab. There was also a high-quality optical window in the ceiling ofthe module, so you could turn the Shuttleso that the window faced Earth for anundisturbed view. A camera system tookdistortion-free pictures, and in the few

free moments between experiments we hadbreathtaking views through the viewports.Next to all the other impressions, theviews are what make an astronaut’s life anincredible experience. Earth is incrediblybeautiful, and so are the stars in the blacksky, the Sun in the black sky…

How was working on Spacelabdifferent from working on Mir?

Spacelab and Mir are two completelydifferent science laboratories. On Mir,you had 15 years for experiments – onSpacelab ten days. That means that wehad a strict timeline and there was almostno extra time if an experiment developedproblems. On Mir, we were more flexiblein that respect – but there were greatdeficiencies in data acquisition and


Human Spaceflight



transmission because it was only possibleto transmit data to ground stations whilewe were crossing Russian territory, whichwas only about four hours per day. Spacelabused relay satellites, so we were in constantcontact with the investigators on theground. On Mir, data had to be recordedon board in various different ways. Tosum up, I think Spacelab was a morepowerful lab than Mir, with the strongdisadvantage of the limited duration.Eventually, this led to our decision toparticipate in the ISS programme in orderto have a laboratory of Spacelab qualityin orbit for years rather than days.

Mir was also a chaotic lab to live in. Iarrived there in 1994 after it been inoperation for ten years. It reminded me ofan old farmhouse in the country wheremany generations of people have livedand collected clutter. The Russians did notprovide stowage for every piece ofequipment and all the newly deliveredmaterial from Progress ferries had to gosomewhere. It always took me a while tofind what I was looking for…

How does flying on the Shuttlecompare to flying on a Soyuz?

While there is more legroom in theShuttle there is also much more vibration.I hope that, if Europe builds a newmanned carrier system, we will learn

from the differentexperiences withSoyuz and Shuttle.Although the smallSoyuz capsule is lesscomfortable, it is

safer than the Shuttle. For future systemsescape capability during all phases of theflight needs to be a prime designrequirement.

How was it to be the first non-American on an American spacecraft?

When we started training for Spacelab-1in Huntsville we received a warmwelcome. After all, it was also for themthe first flight where they had operationalresponsibility, what we now call payloadoperation, meaning the execution of theexperiments. They made sure everythingwas more than perfect. In Houston youcould feel that not everyone was happythat Europe was involved; some alsoresented the new concept of the payloadspecialist ‘astronaut scientist’, who wasnot under JSC control like the pilots. Acouple of small things made us realisethat JSC management was suspicious.Now, of course, all this has changed. I think we broke the ice and all ourcolleagues who came after us had mucheasier lives.

Are there any direct descendants onColumbus of experiments you had onSpacelab?

There was one experiment on PedroDuque’s list that is a direct descendant ofan experiment from D1 with fruit flies

where it was discovered that the male fliesdied after a shorter lifetime. Pedro’sexperiment was based on these findings.Lots of general experiments have beendone on many other flights; there arealways follow-ups. In medicine,knowledge is based on statistical data, andit can never be a mistake to continue thecollection of data on a group of testsubjects in order to draw conclusions.

How is your relationship with SigmundJähn, the first East German astronautwho flew in 1978?

We know each other very well; I think itwas me who managed to bring him backinto the Western space programme. Wemet for the first time in 1984 at an eventto celebrate Hermann Oberth’s 90thbirthday and in the following years at theIAF Congress. We discussed ourexperiences and views and we had a nicesurprise: although we had lived our livesin controversial systems and directions wewere born in places very close to eachother in Germany. After school I hadescaped a system I did not agree with andstarted a new life in West Germany, whilehe was an important officer for that samesystem I had rejected. Still we reached thesame conclusion: it only takes 90 minutesto complete one orbit around Earth toexperience a change in comprehension.The planet loses its large dimensions andbecomes very small and fragile, and theworst that could happen to it is a globalwar. Remember that this was at the heightof the Cold War, the Pershing missilecrisis and the Star Wars Programme.

Then the world changed in November1989 with the fall of the Berlin wall, andless than a year after that Germany wasunified. Despite his immense experience,Jähn could not join the West GermanBundeswehr, so I managed to install himin DLR and later on in ESA – much toeverybody’s advantage. All ESA people,especially astronauts training with theRussians, could draw on his experience.

German space jubilees:Sigmund Jähn, left, celebratesthe 25th Anniversary of hisflight with the Russians; UlfMerbold, right, the 20thAnniversary of his Spacelab-1mission.




RVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWSEuropean Flag on the ISS and Beyond...

I will never forget a comment from one of my classmates in the NASA astronaut class of 1996, composed of 35Americans and nine people from other countries. He was confused because there were European astronauts comingfrom different national agencies: “I cannot understand, all Europeans look alike to me…” This example showsthat overall, despite the fact that each country of Europe has its own history and culture, Europeans are muchcloser than we would like to admit. People from other continents, with diverse cultures, can recognise that at aglance.

I mention this episode firstly because we took a big step forward in creating an integrated European AstronautCorps that represents the European identity. This identity combines our common heritage while at the same timepreserving the diversity, the individuality of each nation.

Secondly, it is only by recognising our differences and unifying our strengths that we can look forward to thechallenges of the new millennium. Among them is one that I consider worthwhile pursuing for the future of Europeand all humankind: building infrastructures and space ships that would allow a true human exploration of space!

The experience of building the International Space Station has demonstrated that space exploration is anendeavour that requires the cooperation of many countries and, among these, Europe has a leading role to play.

When I first stepped, or rather floated, into the US module I felt for a split second the responsibility of representingnot only my Italian countrymen, but also the culture and history of Europe.

I had the same feeling of pride and responsibility when I spoke to the President of the European Commission,Romano Prodi. I was in the logistics module ‘Raffaello’, a beautiful piece of machinery designed and built inEurope and temporarily attached to the Space Station, and I was showing the European flag I brought with me. Mr Prodi was asking me about life on board when he saw the little flag drifting slowly in front of the camera; hewas surprised, but also very pleased to see that little symbol of unified Europe present in this lone outpost orbitingthe Earth.

I believe these memories from my lastflight in 2001 are the best way tocelebrate the 25th Anniversary of the firstEuropean in space. Since then, a greatdeal of experience has been gained inhuman spaceflight, and Europe is ready toface the challenge of leaving Low EarthOrbit and venturing out to explore theSolar System.

I hope to see again, in the not too distantfuture, another beautiful European flagon the harsh landscapes of the Moon andMars. Europeans have always been boldexplorers. We should not forget thatexploration is an essential element ofcultural and economic development.

Umberto GuidoniESA Astronaut

He knew Star City, the Russian trainingcentre, inside out and could help ESApeople when they moved there. He speaksRussian like a Russian and knows all thekey figures of the Russian system. Forhim, this career move was a chance tocontinue working in the field he loves anduse all the knowledge he had acquiredover the years.

Do you think that the Spacelabprogramme was worthwhile for Europe?

Absolutely no question: yes! Without itwe would not be where we are. Being avalid partner in the International SpaceStation would be inconceivable if Europehad not qualified as a partner in theSpacelab programme.

How do you see the future ofspaceflight?

I think it is crucial that, even facingproblems as we do now, we continue withthe ISS Programme. I think it is vital thatwe build an escape system for emergencysituations in order to be able to increasethe crew size to six or seven and thusimprove the value of the ISS as alaboratory. To keep the whole system inbalance we need more people up thereand to build up more exploration-relatedexperiments.

The next big challenge is a flight to Mars.I think we need to know more before wedecide to go straight to Mars or whether,as an intermediate step, we should returnto the Moon first. We need more operationalexperience and can achieve that by usingthe ISS. We also need to investigate thehuman side of it – how do crew membersbehave in such a closed environment onlonger trips? Only based on this kind ofknowledge can we take a decision; it isimpossible now. For a possible Mars flightwe need to build better propulsionsystems, for example plasma propulsion,to shorten the flight time. s


Human Spaceflight


How did you become an astronaut,how did you plan your career?

That was long ago – there was no humanspaceflight yet. I was a little boy of ninewhen Sputnik was launched and 13 yearsold when the first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin,flew. I found that very interesting andthought that I also wanted to be acosmonaut. The first cosmonauts andastronauts were military pilots, so afterfinishing school in 1966 I went to amilitary flight college. I became a pilotand wanted to get a higher education, so Iwent to the same pilot academy that YuriGagarin studied at. It is now named afterhim. Sigmund Jähn, the first East-Germancosmonaut, also graduated from thisacademy.

I graduated in1976, and at around thattime the Soviet Union proposed for thefirst time that people from other countriescould participate in their flights. I appliedand, probably because I had the righteducation and quite some experience from my time in the Czechoslovakian air

INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVforce, I was lucky enough to be selected.We were six new cosmonauts – two eachfrom Czechoslovakia, Poland and theGerman Democratic Republic. The trainingin Star City started in December 1976, andit was extremely interesting! Everythingwas new and fascinating to me.

How and when did you learn that youwere going to fly?

Well, I only really realised that I was areal cosmonaut when I was in orbit…

Actually, we did not know whowas going to go until it wasannounced only two days beforethe flight. We were two from eachcountry, and we did not knowwhich of the two of us was selected.When I heard that it was me I wasvery happy. I had dreamt of it allmy life, and suddenly my dreamcomes true! I was still very young,30 years old, and very excited.

Please tell us about your flight. Whatdid you do, what did you see?

That’s a very long story – I could talk aboutit for many, many hours! But to sum it up,it was one of the most interesting periodsin my life to work with all the differentpeople. We trained and worked togetherwith the Soviet cosmonauts, we were aninternational team, and we were unitedbyof spaceflight.

I only spent eight days in space, but I amvery grateful to hawhat many other peoplecan only dream about. The greatestimpression that will stay with me mywhole life is: Earth is really round. It hasfinite dimensions. You can actually flyaround it in tens of minutes. What wasequally impressive, though more of adetail, were the meteors. People usuallysay that these are ‘falling stars’, but whenyou’re in space they are not above yourhead; I could see them far beneath myfeet. Stars were shining above me andother ‘stars’ were falling below me at the

same time. The spaceship with me in itfloated between them. It was beautiful. Ofcourse we only watched these phenomenaoutside our scientific schedule!

Our science programme wasn’t as extensiveas they are today. To give you a fewexamples, we had a couple of experimentsto study microgravity, material sciencecrystallisation experiments. We studiedthe stars and how they behave, the level ofoxygen in tissue of the human body – wehad a couple of very interestingexperiments. One of them was from myhometown, which is well-known for itsexcellent beer. Unfortunately we didn’thave any beer on board! Instead, we grewsingle-cell plants. In our short flight wegrew a couple of generations. But ofcourse it is quite difficult to speak aboutthe details of the scientific experimentsafter 25 years.

You said that you enjoyed working andtraining in an international team. Doyou think that your flight as the firstEuropean in space lay the foundationfor a more international cooperationand collaboration in space?

Personally, I believe it has. Othercosmonauts and astronauts probably thinkthe same. Projects like ours facilitatebetter understanding between differentcountries. One proof of the pioneeringrole my flight had is that the followingRussian flights had more internationalcrews, and nowadays they are internationalby default. It is a pleasant feeling andmakes me proud to have been one of thefirst to start this tradition.

By the way, I never knew I was regardedas the first European in space until 12years ago when I visited the Royal MilitaryMuseum and Space Information Centre inBelgium as a guest. In their space sectionI was surprised to see my name listed asthe first European cosmonaut. I did notunderstand this at first – at that time, theSoviet Union still existed and to me,

Vladimir Remek, born in Ceske-Budejovicein Czechoslovakia in 1948, celebrated the25th Anniversary of his flight to the RussianSalyut-6 space station this year. He was thefirst European – ‘non-Soviet and non-Armerican’, as he puts it – to travel intospace. He now works in the Czech Embassyin Russia.




RVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWSClaudie Haigneré visited Mir in 1996 for two weeks during theFranco-Russian mission ‘Cassiopée’. She then spent eight dayson board the International Space Station in October 2002. Shewas the only woman in the European Astronaut Corps, untilshe was appointed Minister of Research and New Technologiesin the French Government in 2001.

First Steps in Microgravity – WatchingEarth from Space

When one arrives in orbit and the engines are turned off, allthe noise and vibrations of the launch stop. Still fastened tothe seat by seat belts, I did not immediately perceive theabsence of gravity. I only noticed it by looking at the objectsfloating around me. I was very impatient to unfasten the seatbelts and finally experience what I had studied, for a longtime, in books and documents during training. The reality is very different. When you are on the ground, it isdifficult to understand what floating upside down or on the ceiling really means.

I felt my body fluids flowing towards my head rather like when you stand on your head for a long time on Earth.This gave me a bit of a headache, which fortunately stopped after a few days. When I finally got on board Mireverything was like in the simulator used in training in Russia. Therefore, I knew the architecture of the modulesand the position of all the objects well, so I knew how to move around. However, I required a few days toreconstruct a reference system that enabled me to orient myself. It took me 2-3 days to learn how to use mymuscles again, adjusting them to move around or hold objects. I had to re-establish new rules to stabilise my bodybefore attaching objects to velcro or elastic.

It only takes 3-4 minutes to pass over Europe. From space I could see the change of colours during every sunriseand sunset, the clouds and snow on the mountains. After a while I was able to recognise the continents that wewere flying over from their colours or even from the position of the clouds. Due to my ability to read all themeteorological elements, I was able to identify the approaching coasts and to follow the meteorological events inthe formation of a storm or a cyclone.

I will also never forget the impressive vision of the darkness of the Cosmos! Looking at all that blackness, Iperceived the meaning of real infinity and of how small the Earth is inside our solar system. Realising how thin theterrestrial atmosphere is, I could not help thinking about the responsibility that all of us have to defend andpreserve our magnificent planet. Looking at the Moon rising above the horizon of the Earth several times per dayis an unforgettable and poetic memory that I will always carry in my heart!

Claudie Haigneré, former ESA Astronaut

Soviet cosmonauts also belonged toEurope… but one thing is certain: I wasthe first non-Soviet and non-American inspace – not a bad result after all!

What did you do after your stay onSalyut? Are you still involved in space?

For a while, I stayed in the space fielduntil I switched back to the MilitaryService. I became Director of the CzechAir and Space Museum in Prague. Thanksto my function as Director, I came toBelgium and learned of my reputation!

I then retired from the military in 1995and started working in Russia,representing Czech trade companies inMoscow. For a while I was the Director ofthe Moscow branch of a Czech companyZ Strakonice, and since 2002 I have beena Counsellor at the Czech Embassy inMoscow. In my role as Head of the Tradeand Economic Department I also deal alot with scientific cooperation, and I oftencome across space issues, only this time Isee them from the other side. I have avery interesting life at the moment, I meetmany fascinating and talented people andhave a position of high responsibility –but I do miss space!

How do you see the future of humanspaceflight? What do you think willhappen in the next 20 years?

I have always tried to avoid answering thisquestion – I can only say what I hope. Letme explain this with an example from myflight. At one time aboard Salyut, I wasfloating; the only physical contact I hadwith the station were two fingers on ahandle. Through a window I watched theEarth. At that moment, I felt my heartstronger than ever before, I heard eachheartbeat, and I was aware of all my dreamsand hopes for myself and the world. Iasked myself: What will this world be likewhen I return? What will it be like in 20years? I told myself that I don’t want toguess or gamble – I can only hope.

We human beings always go further, weexplore, we take the next step. Many peopleeven lost their lives because they claimedthat the world was round. I went up to seethat it really is, and I am extremely gratefulthat I had the chance to do so.

I believe that the coming years will be veryinteresting for human spaceflight. I hopeto be still alive to witness this – that man-kind is clever enough not to destroy itself.I hope that spaceflight will be continued.

There is a lot of talk about going to otherplanets, and I hope that we don’t justdiscuss it but do it. Future generationswill certainly lead interesting lives.

There will always be two categories ofpeople: optimists and pessimists.Optimists think that the world develops as it should, and pessimists think,“Unfortunately this is true.” I am definitelyan optimist. s


human spaceflight 25 years of european human …human spaceflight 6 esa bulletin 116 - november 2003...

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