ESA’s Eureca (European Retrievable Carrier) satellite was released from Space Shuttle Atlantis during mission STS-46 on 2 August 1992 carrying 15 microgravity, space science and technology experiments. Eureca’s own hydrazine propulsion system raised the orbit to 508 km. The mission was rated as highly successful. Eureca was retrieved by Shuttle mission STS-57 on 24 June 1993.
The much-travelled European research satellite Eureca was taken from the aerospace exhibition in the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne and loaded onto a truck before setting off on yet another adventure. The satellite, which spent almost 12 months in space during the 1990s and has been on exhibit at the Museum of Transport since 2000, is undergoing scientific analysis at Empa in Dübendorf. It will then occupy a prominent position in the new aerospace exhibition in the Museum of Transport due to open in November. The exciting journey of Eureca (European Retrievable Carrier) began on 31 July 1992 when it was launched into space in the belly of the space shuttle 'Atlantis'. The satellite was designed with the aim of learning more about the influences of very low gravity, or so-called microgravity. To reduce both construction costs and the amount of debris floating around in space, the ESA decided to call on a reusable satellite. Also on-board the space shuttle was the Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier, who was responsible for releasing the delicate cargo.
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