On 28 November 1983, the first European-built Spacelab was launched from @NASAKennedy aboard Space Shuttle Columbia.
Also on board was Ulf Merbold, who became our first astronaut in space. The 10-day Spacelab-1 mission marked our entry into human spaceflight activities.
Under a cooperation agreement with @NASA, we were to build a modular research laboratory that would fit inside the Shuttle’s cargo bay.
In 17 years, European Spacelab equipment flew on 36 missions. The two Spacelab modules eventually made 16 flights with five different Shuttle Orbiters.
Many of Spacelab’s features live on in space hardware that is flying today. Europe’s Columbus laboratory on the Station evolved from Spacelab.
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