Jules Verne spacecraft takes ISS up, up, and away

by William Atkins

Saturday, 26 April 2008

Page 1 of 2 ! On April 25, 2008, the European Space Agency announced that earlier in the day its first automated transfer vehicle (ATV), the "Jules Verne," increased the altitude of the International Space Station by about 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers)—the first time an ESA craft had performed such an important task. The 12.3 minute maneuver was directed by ESA’s ATV Control Center, which is located in Toulouse, France. At 6:22 a.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST) (0422 GMT), controllers turned on two of the Jules Verne’s four main engines. The two engines produced a thrust that increased the station’s speed by about 8 feet per second (2.65 meters per second). To achieve this re-boost in altitude, the ATV consumed 537 pounds (244 kilograms) of fuel. In all, the ATV carries about two metric tons (about 4,400 pounds) of propellant for re-boost activities. After the burn was completed, the new altitude of the ISS became 212.5 miles (342 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface. The Space Station needs periodic boosts to raise its orbit because its orbit decays slowly over time due to a very small amount of atmospheric drag on the large structure as it orbits about the Earth. In the past, the RSA Progress, the NASA Space Shuttle, or the ISS itself has performed such a maneuver. However, only RSA Progress and the ESA ATV are able to re-boost the space station to such a high level due to the amount of fuel onboard each vessel. The Jules Verne ATV (ATV-001) will perform three additional re-boost maneuvers over the next few months: on June 12th, July 8th, and August 6th. Normally, the space station tries to keep at an orbital height of about 211 miles (340 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface. Later in August 2008, the Jules Verne, loaded with waste and unneeded materials from the space station, will be undocked from the ISS. The ATV has a capacity of carrying up to 6.3 metric tons (13,900 pounds) of unwanted material from the Station. Later after undocking, it will perform a de-orbit burn so that a controlled descent through the Earth’s atmosphere can be achieved. It will disintegrate over the Pacific Ocean to end its mission. Watch the animation of the re-boost maneuver on the next page. << First page <   1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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