{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='10 years of Columbus, Europe\u0026#39;s orbiting space lab' data-url='/boclips/videos/6878faa068f2517d67876c91' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/6878faa068f2517d67876c91' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\n10 years of Columbus, Europe\u0026#39;s orbiting space lab\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eWith whoops and cheers from the crew, the Shuttle Atlantis blasted off ten years ago with Europe's Columbus module on board, bound for the International Space Station. Since then ESA's orbiting science lab has been used to grow plants,...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eWith whoops and cheers from the crew, the Shuttle Atlantis blasted off ten years ago with Europe's Columbus module on board, bound for the International Space Station. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eSince then ESA's orbiting science lab has been used to grow plants, research new metals and probe astronauts' blood, bodies and brains. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe 10-tonne module may look somewhat chaotic, with its cables and experiments floating around the walls, floor and ceiling, but it is a familiar place for ESA's astronaut corps. Recently returned spaceman Paolo Nespoli tells Euronews: \"To a European astronaut, it's a little bit like home. By definition, by default, when a European astronaut flies, he, he or she, is responsible of Columbus, of the laboratory itself. Which means maintaining it, make sure that everything works.\" \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eColumbus was launched on 7th February 2008 and attached to the International Space Station over the course of one day, with ESA's Leopold Eyharts overseeing proceedings. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e\"I was lucky to be part of this mission and to be the first European astronaut to get into Columbus and to turn on the lights,\" the French astronaut remembers. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eShowing us around the mock-ups used for training at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, he tells us: \"So the module inside is very well organised. This is a scientific laboratory, so we of course a lot of scientific facilities.\" \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e\"Here we have a microgravity environment which is permanent, so we can do experiments with a long exposure to microgravity, so there's a continuity in the science.\" \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eBeing able to carry out and repeat experiments has yielded groundbreaking results, like research into how plants cope in weightlessness. The scientists behind the research want to develop systems to produce food for astronauts on long-term missions. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eAnn-Iren Kittang Jost from Norway's Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Space explains to Euronews: \"We actually can grow plants in microgravity, or weightlessness. Plants they can adapt, they can germinate from seed, they can go through the whole life cycle, and produce new seeds, so actually they can adapt quite well to these conditions, and that's quite fascinating.\" \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eAnother series of experiment, called Expose, saw lifeforms from Earth exposed to the universe outside the Columbus module. They were fixed in trays in the vacuum of space for a year and a half, some in the Sun, some in shade, to test how hardy they really are. The result was positive, with several microorganisms that were not exposed to extreme UV rays managing to survive. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eElke Rabbow, from Germany's DLR, took part in the project: \"Together with these trays we sent up different microorganisms, from bacteria, up to lichens, and also some larvae of different animals. And indeed when they came back, several of these organisms survived.\" \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe International Space Station began with Russia's Zarya module in 1998, and now has science labs from Japan, Russia and the US alongside ESA's Columbus. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe astronauts on board follow a busy schedule of experiments, many of them on themselves. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThey test how their muscles, bones, blood and brains react in space. One surprise finding from an experiment called Neurospat found that astronauts' brains have reduced electrical activity and performance in space. There is no clear reason why, although Hungarian Professor Laszlo Balazs, who was a co-leader of the experiment believes it could be a combination of factors. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e\"Microgravity affects circulation and also influences brain circulation. We don't know the exact mechanisms, but the oxygen supply to the brain could be worse than it is on the ground. Also, the astronauts are working on a tight schedule, so they might be exhausted mentally, and also they suffer from sleep problems,\" he explains. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eMeanwhile another group, headed by Thomas Berger from DLR, has been tracking radiation - one of the greatest dangers that astronauts face. In an experiment called Dosis3D, they mapped how radiation varies around the Columbus module, and found other factors make a difference too. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e\"Since Dosis3D is running over a very long time time, we could also see the changes in the radiation environment due to the fact that for example the space station was lifted up by 70 kilometres in altitude - that changed the radiation environment. And then we could see variations due to the solar cycle, depending if the Sun is very active or not,\" Berger says. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eExperimenting in a weightless environment is unique, and Columbus is the only place scientists can study how new metal alloys solidify without the influence of gravity, information which has proved helpful and revealing in developing new high-performance metal alloys. The key instrument for this science, called the Electromagnetic Levitator, is controlled from the ground, but the researchers rely on astronauts for essential hands-on help. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eMaterials Scientist Thomas Volkmann from DLR explains one of\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='resource-details-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='resource-details-heading'\u003eResource Details\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-resource-details clearfix'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eCurator 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