File:Spacelab computer (51431079276).jpg

English: Original Computer from Spacelab, the first European Space Station: Spacelab was designed by the European Space Agency to fit in the US space shuttle payload bay and allow extended experiments to be conducted by astronauts in orbit. It is a 10 ton reusable space station that flew on 22 Shuttle missions from 1983 to 1998 with astronauts like Owen Garriott and Cady Coleman.

This is an original CIMSA computer for the Spacelab Command and Data Management System (CDMS). This is a high-reliability core-memory computer built by MATRA in France. The CDMS performed processing, transmission, and data acquisition from onboard experiments.

Spacelab carried three identical MATRA 125/MS computers have a main memory capacity of 64K 16-bit words (or 128MB, the same as the first Macintosh in 1984). They were removed to upgrade to IBM AP-101SL orbiter computers. The operating system and program load comes from a main memory tape drive. The heatsink / chassis was manufactured from a single billet of aerospace aluminum and nickel plated for durability and corrosion resistance. 11.25″ x 7.75″ x 21″

NASA Summary: "Spacelab consisted of an enclosed, pressurized laboratory module and open, U-shaped pallets that could be placed behind the module or flown alone. Equipment -- including telescopes, antennas and sensors -- was mounted on the pallets for direct exposure to space.

In the 17 years of Spacelab, with 36 missions flown and about 800 investigations completed, this program taught scientists how to operate experiments in the microgravity environment of low-Earth orbit.

An artifact in the Future Ventures’ 🚀 Space Collection.