GeoFlow - Outcomes from E-USOC's First Mission On-Board Columbus

-USOC is the Spanish User Support and Operations Centre, one of the ten similar centres distributed at different locations in Europe. These centres perform the operations of experiments on board the Columbus Module, the main contribution from the European Space Agency (ESA) to the International Space Station (ISS). The first mission for E-USOC on the Columbus laboratory consisted of executing the GeoFlow experiment, inside the Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL). This experiment studied the movement and behaviour of a fluid contained in between two concentric spheres, representing the geophysical fluid inside the Earth. This fluid motion was observed by means of Interferometry images. The GeoFlow Experiment Container was launched on Space Shuttle Atlantis with the Columbus Module and was installed inside the FSL by a member of the ISS crew. Once placed in the facility, E-USOC operators used telescience to operate the experiment from their control room: Telecommands were sent to control the different GeoFlow subsystems, and telemetry and scientific images from the experiment were received. Achieving successful results from the experiment was a challenging mission, starting in March 2008 and continuing until January 2009, when a malfunction in the GeoFlow Experiment Container forced its return to ground and the interruption of the experiment. The paper will present a general description of the project, address the preparation and execution of such a complex mission and provide an overview of the activities and responsibilities of E-USOC. Furthermore, it will present the outcomes and lessons learned from this project.