The addition of ESA's Columbus laboratory, and the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) programme, changed the shape of European participation on the International Space Station. But its launch came at a challenging time for human spaceflight.

In this episode ESA astronaut Frank De Winne and former ESA International Space Station programme manager Bernardo Patti talk about Columbus' launch on Space Shuttle Atlantis, the tragedy that preceded it, and what the science lab has enabled for Europeans in space to this day. 

On 31 March 2021, ESA is opening applications for its first astronaut recruitment round in more than a decade. Visit esa.int/YourWayToSpace to find out more and #MakeYourWayToSpace

ESA Explores Time and Space: launching Columbus to orbit

BIS - Back In Space 
Marcus & Tanja Seitz
Followed by ESA | Producer from Germany | Uplifting Trance

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Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1 (ESV)