Spacelab in orbit

Two Spacelab flight units were built and the laboratory returned to Europe flew on the final Spacelab flight, the Neurolab mission in April 1998, and was used for both German Shuttle missions, D-1 and D-2, among others. The returned laboratory would go on to be housed in a special exhibition hall at Bremen airport - the first part of Space Academy Bremen, an educational venture to give students and the general public the opportunity to learn about Europe's achievements in the human exploration of space.

Europe's involvement in human spaceflight began shortly after the Apollo moon landings in 1969 when the future of space exploration was being determined. Europe and the US agreed that NASA would build a re-usable space plane, the Space Shuttle, while ESA would contribute the laboratory carried in the Shuttle's cargo bay where astronauts could conduct scientific research in the unique environment of space.

Europe's experience with building Spacelab inspired the Columbus laboratory built for the International Space Station in 2003. Columbus is based on the same concept and technologies but, in contrast to Spacelab's eight-day to two-week missions, was designed to serve as an outpost for continuous research in orbit.