Jules Verne ATV

Template:Infobox Spacecraft Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 001 (ATV-001) is an unmanned European cargo resupply spacecraft named after French science-fiction author Jules Verne. The spacecraft was launched on 9 March 2008 on a mission to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo. Jules Verne will also be used to reboost the station into a higher orbit.

Because it is the first ATV, the spacecraft underwent three weeks of testing before it began a series of rendezvous with the ISS. It docked to the ISS on 3 April 2008. After spending up to four months docked at the station, Jules Verne will undock and de-orbit to a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.

Development programme

See also: Automated Transfer Vehicle

Launch

Jules Verne was launched into low Earth orbit atop the maiden flight of the Ariane 5ES carrier rocket. Lift-off from ELA-3 at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana occurred at 04:03:04 UTC on 9 March 2008, following several delays. The spacecraft separated from the carrier rocket 1 hour 6 minutes and 41 seconds after lift-off, and navigation systems were subsequently activated. Two days later, on 11 March, the four main engines of the ATV were fired for the first time, marking the beginning of several orbital insertion boosts. Overberg Test Range played a part in relaying telemetry data from a mobile station deployed in New Zealand during the launch phase.

Initial propulsion glitch

After in-orbit activation of the ATV's propulsion system, a few hours after launch, the second of four Propulsion Drive Electronics (PDE) units, which controls a quarter of the ATV's manoeuvring thrusters, reported an unexpected difference in the mixing pressure between the fuel and the oxidiser. Engine burns were briefly postponed whilst the fault was investigated. A restart of the entire propulsion system by the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse (France) resolved the problem and the ATV has since successfully performed several orbital manoeuvres. ESA reported that the mission could have gone ahead even if one quarter of the manoeuvring thrusters had been unavailable, and declared that the ATV remained on schedule for docking with the ISS on 3 April 2008.

On-orbit testing and docking

The ATV (on the right) closing in to the ISS (on the left) during Demo-Day 2.

Because Jules Verne is the first ATV, several demonstration tests were scheduled, to confirm that it was able to safely approach and dock with the space station. After launch, the ATV spent three weeks in free flight and successfully underwent Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre (CAM) tests on 13 March and 14 March, ensuring that the CAM could be conducted as a last back-off mechanism should all other systems fail during the docking manoeuvre.

Subsequently it performed two docking demonstration tests, or "demo days". These tests, which consisted of a series of rendezvous with the International Space Station, culminated in its final test: actual docking with the aft port of the Zvezda module on 3 April 2008. The rendezvous were performed by a fully automated system, using GPS and star trackers. When Jules Verne was 249 metres away from the space station, a videometer, which fires laser pulses at cube-shaped reflectors on the Zvezda service module, and a telegoniometer, which functions like radar, were activated to guide the final docking. The crew of the ISS could abort the docking at any point up until the ATV was one metre away from the station, but this was not required. Jules Verne successfully docked with the ISS on 3 April 2008 at 14:45 UTC.

29 March – Demo-Day 1

During Demo-Day 1, on 29 March 2008, the first rendezvous with the International Space Station was conducted. The manoeuvre, which culminated in a rendezvous with the space station at a distance of 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi), was completely successful despite a minor anomaly with the electronic systems controlling the spacecraft's engines.

Jules Verne started its approach to the ISS at 14:19 GMT. At 15:57, it reached the S₂ hold point, and waited there for 90 minutes to conduct tests. The crew of the ISS then commanded the ATV to conduct hold and retreat manoeuvres. At 17:30, the ATV was commanded to perform an escape manoeuvre, propelling it away from the station.

31 March – Demo-Day 2

The ATV Approach Display on the ISS on Demo-Day 2 with Jules Verne only a few metres away from the ISS.

During Demo-Day 2, Jules Verne closed in to 12 metres (39 ft) of the International Space Station, before the ISS crew simulated an abort. All targets for this Demo-Day were successfully met.

3 April – Docking

On 3 April 2008, the ATV made contact with the Zvezda aft docking port at 14:45:32 UTC, starting a sequence of docking events, and was mechanically captured at 14:55 UTC, completing the docking with the ISS a few minutes later. It will stay docked there for four months and afterwards will be making a controlled burn up in the atmosphere, thereby disposing of space station waste stored on the ATV before departure. This docking manoeuvre was the first fully automated docking of a spacecraft with the space station.

Use while docked

The ATV (on the left) docked to the ISS (on the right). (Image: ESA)

After docking and leak checks were conducted, the crew of the ISS was able to enter the pressurised cargo module and access the cargo. The ATV's liquid tanks are connected to the ISS and their contents were transferred to the station. The crew can manually release air components directly into the ISS’s atmosphere. Jules Verne will remain docked to the ISS, with the connecting hatch open, for up to six months. The crew of the ISS will gradually replace the cargo which it carried to the station with waste for disposal. In addition, 270 kilograms (600 lb) of water, 21 kilograms (46 lb) of oxygen and 856 kilograms (1,887 lb) of propellant will be transferred to the Zvezda module, and Jules Verne will also be used to reboost the space station. About 1,150 kilograms (2,540 lb) of dry cargo will be removed from the ATV and remain aboard the ISS.

Manuscripts

Two original manuscripts by Jules Verne as well as an illustrated 19th century Hetzel French language edition of From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon were flown aboard the spacecraft, and have been successfully delivered to the crew of the International Space Station.

Crew aboard the ISS

The ISS crew at arrival of Jules Verne were the members of Expedition 16 :

• Peggy Whitson Commander - NASA
• Yuri Malenchenko Flight Engineer 1 - Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA)
• Garrett Reisman Flight Engineer 2 - NASA

They will be replaced by Expedition 17 crew in April. The crew at departure of the ATV will be:

• Sergey Volkov Commander - RKA
• Oleg Kononenko Flight Engineer - RKA
• Gregory Chamitoff Flight Engineer - NASA

During the ATV attached phase, the ISS will also be visited by Soyuz TMA-12 Korean spaceflight participant Yi So-yeon and by the crew of STS-124. No European Space Agency astronaut or cosmonaut will be aboard the ISS while Jules Verne is docked.

See also

• Automated Transfer Vehicle
• Progress spacecraft