Europe to launch key space station lab
Europe will set down its own stake in space this week with the launch of the Columbus science laboratory to the International Space Station, ending a quarter century in which European space pioneers had to run their experiments on orbital outposts owned by others. Tucked inside the cargo hold of the space shuttle Atlantis, the 7-metre-long, 4.6-metre-diameter European module is scheduled for lift-off on 6 December from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US. Lift-off is set for 1631 EST (2131 GMT).
"From the Kennedy perspective, we're ready to go and looking forward to next week," launch director Mike Leinbach said at a briefing on Friday following a day-long meeting to review the shuttle's flight preparations.
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