Room laboratory
The space laboratory represents a sub-form of the space station for carrying out experiments in weightlessness in a low orbit . Space laboratories were created during the Cold War and were originally intended primarily for espionage purposes.
definition
A characteristic of a space laboratory is that it cannot operate independently in space, or only for a short period of time . Propulsion and attitude control systems, energy supply, accommodation for crews as well as other systems necessary for a permanent stay in space play a subordinate role or are completely absent. Work on board a space laboratory is usually carried out by crews who get to the space laboratory on board feeder vehicles (e.g. Soyuz spaceships).
development
The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was developed as the first space laboratory by the USA for espionage purposes . During the planned period of use of around one month, Soviet terrain in particular was to be overflown and photographed by the crew. The project was part of the Gemini program , but did not get beyond an unmanned test flight and was discontinued for financial reasons. The Soviet Union developed around the same time military space laboratories in Alma's program. These Almas espionage platforms and the Salyut series derived from the military program can also be viewed as a space laboratory, as the first versions could not be refueled and the service life was therefore limited. Furthermore, the attachment of further modules to the first Salyut versions was not planned. Long-term missions became possible for the first time with the Salyut 6 version, which was modified into a full-fledged space station , at which, in addition to the docking point for the crew, an additional coupling socket for supply vehicles was provided for the first time. The European-American Spacelab is a successful and repeatedly used space laboratory , which was only operational in space with the help of the space shuttle and which returned to earth after the research work had been carried out. In the mid-1990s, the Spacelab was gradually phased out and replaced by the American Spacehab , which was in use until 2007.
Several room laboratories are used on the International Space Station , which have to rely on systems from other modules for continuous operation. At the former Mir space station , the Priroda module is a classic room laboratory, as it does not have its own power supply and was supplied by other modules.