Talk:Spacelab

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Dimensions[edit]

its refered to as a 'large cylinder'. some aproximate dimensions would be nice. 2 feet long? 20 feet long? In other words is this something astronauts work inside of, or a tool they manipulate?

You're right, that was missing. If you need it in imperial units you'd have to convert it, as I only have the SI values. andy 22:38, 14 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Shuttle/Orbiter[edit]

At page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacelab a column in the the table is labelled "shuttle" that contains only he names or Orbiters. Shuttles are identified correctly by mission numbers on left. I believe that the Shuttle column should be labelled "Orbiter" or "Orbiter Vehicle". DuncanJay (talk) 10:39, 5 February 2010 (UTC) Regards[reply]

Been fixed, but the context seemed clear before. -Fnlayson (talk) 14:42, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Fnlayson, I agree that context clarifies, but ever since start of Shuttle missions in the 1980s I have been irritated by the mainsteam media consistently referring to the Orbiter as the (Space) Shuttle. Thank you for the quick fix. Regards —Preceding unsigned comment added by DuncanJay (talk • contribs) 11:51, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Spacelab missions[edit]

I have to admit, I'm confused as to what exactly constitutes a spacelab mission, but it seems that ones that flew either a pressurized module or the igloo component "count" as a spacelab mission, while the ones that flew only pallets (without the igloo) don't count, and hence should be mentioned separately. I'll try to figure out which of the 25 flights listed actually count (I think there should only be 22). Mlm42 (talk) 01:35, 24 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The German Wikipedia article seems to have it sorted out. Mlm42 (talk) 01:38, 24 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Any mission that used Spacelab hardware can be considered a Spacelab mission. But the main ones are where the Spacelab hardware was the focus of the Shuttle mission, like Spacelab 1, Atlas, IML, etc. Trying to minimize or ignore missions with the unpressurized carriers does not help in telling the full story. -fnlayson (talk) 01:49, 24 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Fair enough; I just noticed this NASA page, which claims on 28 shuttle mission spacelab hardware was flown. (in fact that same page also claims '29' is the right number..) Mlm42 (talk) 01:58, 24 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In fact, according to this website, there were 22 "Spacelab Module Missions", and a further 10 "Spacelab pallet missions", none later than 1998 (but counting some prior to 1983). Mlm42 (talk) 02:23, 24 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Also, this NASA webpage counts 24 "Spacelab payloads on shuttle flights", counting the 22 with either a big module, the igloo, and also counting 2 missions with the Spacelab Multipurpose Experiment Support Structures (MPESSs) - STS-52 and STS-62, neither of which are mentioned in the current article. Mlm42 (talk) 02:34, 24 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

After adding more missions that just have a Spacelab pallet (and there are probably more I missed), I am really thinking that it might be a good idea to make a distinction between these missions and the missions which fly a pressurized module. I've done this in the table by creating a separate column, but it might be a good idea to make a separate table for the flights that didn't have either the igloo or a habitable module.. it would seem such mission use the Spacelab pallets, but aren't really "Spacelab missions". Mlm42 (talk) 04:15, 24 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Four more were planned[edit]

Before ESRO/ESA designed, developed and built the first (for $1bn) at their expense, it was expected that USA/NASA would buy a further four (at $250 each) - but then USA switched to building the ISS. ( According to NASA Space Shuttle Haynes. p186 - Prefer a better source.) - Rod57 (talk) 10:53, 7 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I believe NASA ordered (or was to order) a second set of Spacelab hardware, probably in Spacelab An international success story. I'll look into that... -Fnlayson (talk) 15:01, 7 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]