Editing Spacelab (section)

==Background and history==
In August 1973, [[NASA]] and [[European Space Research Organisation]] (ESRO), now European Space Agency or ESA, signed a [[memorandum of understanding]] (MOU) to build a science laboratory for use on Space Shuttle flights.<ref>Lord 1987, pp. 24–28</ref> Construction of Spacelab was started in 1974 by [[Entwicklungsring Nord]] (ERNO), a subsidiary of [[VFW-Fokker|VFW-Fokker GmbH]], after merger with [[Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm]] (MBB) named MBB/ERNO, and merged into [[Astrium|EADS SPACE Transportation]] in 2003. The first lab module, ''LM1'', was donated to NASA in exchange for flight opportunities for European astronauts. A second module, ''LM2'', was bought by NASA for its own use from ERNO.<ref>[https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/1a.pdf Space Transportation System – HAER No. TX-116 – p. 46. Quote: "... Later, NASA purchased LM2, the second lab"]</ref>

[[File:Spacelab 2 mission.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|Artist's impression of the Spacelab 2 mission, showing some of the various experiments in the payload bay]]
Construction on the Spacelab modules began in 1974 by what was then the company ERNO-VFW-Fokker.<ref>[https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/1a.pdf Space Transportation System – HAER No. TX-116 – p. 46]</ref>

{{Blockquote|Spacelab is important to all of us for at least four good reasons. It expanded the Shuttle's ability to conduct science on-orbit manyfold. It provided a marvelous opportunity and example of a large international joint venture involving government, industry, and science with our European allies. The European effort provided the free world with a really versatile laboratory system several years before it would have been possible if the [[United States]] had had to fund it on its own. And finally, it provided Europe with the systems development and management experience they needed to move into the exclusive manned space flight arena.|NASA Administrator, ''Spacelab: An International Success Story''<ref>[https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19880009991.pdf ''Spacelab: An International Success Story'' Foreword by NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher] {{Source-attribution}}</ref>}}

[[File:STS-61-A compartment trainer.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|European astronauts prepare for their Spacelab mission, 1984.]]
In the early 1970s NASA shifted its focus from the Lunar missions to the Space Shuttle, and also space research.<ref name=Portree>{{cite web |url=https://spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2017/03/nasa-seeks-to-pep-up-shuttlespacelab.html |title=Spaceflight History: NASA Johnson's Plan to PEP Up Shuttle/Spacelab (1981) |last=Portree |first=David S.F. |date=2017 |website=Spaceflight History}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> The [[Administrator of NASA]] at the time moved the focus from a new space station to a space laboratory for the planned Space Shuttle.<ref name=Portree/> This would allow technologies for future space stations to be researched and harness the capabilities of the Space Shuttle for research.<ref name=Portree/>

Spacelab was produced by European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), a consortium of ten European countries including:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.space.com/23796-spacelab-space-shuttle-30-years-anniversary.html |title=Spacelab: Space Shuttle Flew Europe's First Space Module 30 Years Ago |date=2 December 2013 |publisher=Space.com}}</ref>
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