As soon as Apollo 11 touched down on the Moon, NASA began planning the next era of space exploration. As the Space Shuttle program took shape, two goals came to dominate the organization's ethos: a greater focus on reusable spacecraft, and expanded cooperation with other space agencies.

From these two ideas Spacelab was born: a reusable, mobile laboratory that could be launched aboard a space shuttle to conduct specimens from the craft's cargo bay. Built by the European Space Agency, Spacelab heralded a new era of space exploration, with great discovery and great collaboration.

These showcase specimens are all mission-flown instruments and gear from various Spacelab missions. With this technology, Space Shuttle astronauts were able to run experiments, such as studying the effects of the zero-g environment on organisms or taking detailed astronomical observations.

Each specimen has been individually listed and photographed. Each comes with a certificate of authenticity, testifying to these incredible pieces of space exploration history. You can explore all the Spacelab specimens in the collection below!

In the wake of the costly Apollo 11 mission, the Richard Nixon Whitehouse produced a report entitled "The Post Apollo Space Program Directions for the Future," advising two major changes in space exploration policy. First, a greater use of unmanned and reusable spacecraft, and second, an emphasis on international partnerships. From this impetus the Space Shuttle program was born, the next leap forward in space exploration. 

The Space Shuttle program would provide longer mission times on a larger craft and was thus ripe for scientific research. To realize this, NASA took a page from their own Ames Research Center, which had been using a Convair 990 airplane to run experiments while in the air. In 1971, Marshall Space Flight Center began designing the “sortie can” as a reusable space laboratory, laying the groundwork for the Spacelab concept.

The development of the Sortie Laboratory was central to the collaboration between NASA and the various European space agencies, with a development commitment made on December 20, 1972. Construction began in 1974 by ERNO-VFW-Fokker, a Dutch-West German initiative. The first LM1 was donated to NASA to secure spots for European astronauts on Space Shuttle missions. A second iteration LM2 was purchased by NASA a few years later. Under this new era of cooperation, the various European space agencies united under the ESA in 1975.

Dubbed Spacelab, the module was a microgravity laboratory that was operated from the shuttles’ cargo bays, allowing astronauts to conduct experiments in a zero-g environment. Built in a modular design, the lab could be reconfigured in between missions to better suit the nature of the mission’s experiments. Spacelab first flew to space as part of STS-9, Columbia’s sixth mission, in which protein crystals were studied, as well as the sun’s energy output.

Work aboard Spacelab was done in the main laboratory module, a pressurized “shirt-sleeve” environment connected to a number of unmanned modules called pallets. Depending on the experiment, the habitable module might not be needed at all, and the pallets would be connected to the igloo, which was in turn controlled remotely from the shuttle itself. An Instrument Pointing System mounted on a pallet allowed for precise calibration of telescopes and other instruments.

The advantages of working aboard a shuttle were numerous. Working in a zero-g environment allowed biologists to study the effects of weightlessness on different organisms, while astronomers (free from light pollution) could better study the stars and planets. Remote access meant that experiments could be conducted by scientists on the ground, allowing for a greater pool of researchers to take advantage of the Spacelab program.

Twenty-three shuttle missions were equipped with Spacelab when the program was scrapped in 1998. It was replaced by new laboratories aboard the International Space Station. During its final mission, STS-90, Spacelab studied the effects of the zero-g environment on the human nervous system. Though Spacelab is no more, its experiments were highly valuable in studying the effects space has on the human body, and the spirit of collaboration that produced the program has been instrumental in furthering international cooperation in space.