The Columbus System Baseline and Interfaces

The current Columbus s~stem baseline can be traced back to a number of Space Station linked Phase A studies funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) during the period 1982 to 1984, plus nationally funded studies undertaken by Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom during the latter part of the same period. All of these studies were completed in the summer of 1984, shortly after the invitation of the President of the United States to Europe and certain other countries to join the United States in an international Space Station Programme. This paper traces the evolution of the Columbus system baseline up to the present time and describes the most significant changes introduced into this baseline as a result of the definition process itself and as a consequence of changes introduced into other major systems with which Columbus has major external interfaces