 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
European freighter set to leave space station on Friday
Paris (AFP) Sept 2, 2008 A robot freighter that docked with the International Space Station (ISS) in April will detach this week prior to be being destroyed in a controlled operation over the Pacific, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Tuesday. ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) brought 7.5 tonnes of equipment, water and air to the ISS crew on its maiden flight, and has been used as a temporary leisure centre and sleeping area for the past five months. Carrying refuse, it will automatically undock from the station at 2130 GMT on Friday, ESA said in a press release. Its engines will use some of the remaining fuel to park the 13.5-tonne craft in a new orbit over the following three weeks. On September 29, the ATV will be sent plummeting on a suicidal re-entry path, designed to cause it to burn up in the upper atmosphere over a "completely uninhabited" area of the Pacific, the agency said. Tethered to the ISS, the ATV carried out four operations to boost the station to a safe height of 355 kilometres (221 miles) in order to overcome residual atmospheric drag. On August 27, it was also used to steer the ISS out of the path of potentially dangerous orbiting debris. The first ATV -- named after the 19th-century French sci-fi pioneer Jules Verne -- has been hugely esteemed by the ISS's three crew, Sergei Volkov, Oleg Kononenko and Greg Chamitoff, ESA said. "It became one of the best places for the crew to live," said French astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy, who advised ESA on how the freighter could be turned to human use. Jules Verne's destruction has been scheduled to take place at night so that scientists can gain an insight into how large objects behave when they de-orbit. NASA is deploying two aircraft laden with radar, ultra-violet and other sensors to monitor the burnup. The Jules Verne measures 10 metres (32.5 feet) in length, offering 50 cubic metres (1,765 cu. feet), or nearly the capacity of a large shipping container. Designed and built for 1.3 billion euros (1.885 billion dollars), the craft is Europe's costliest contribution to the ISS. It will be followed by four more cargo ships, whose assembly and launch will each cost over 300 million euros (435 million dollars). Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links The latest information about the Commercial Satellite Industry
ESA Prepares For November's Ministerial Meeting
Paris, France (ESA) Aug 01, 2008In November 2008, the ministers responsible for space activities in ESA's member states and Canada will gather in The Hague to set the course of Europe's space programme over the period ahead. They will be invited to endorse the next stages in a series of ongoing programmes and to commit to the start of new programmes. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook