Jules Verne goes to space in February 2008

William Atkins
Tuesday, 15 January 2008 22:08

Science - Space

The Jules Verne will be launched into a 185-mile (300-kilometer) orbit from the ELA-3 launch site at the Guiana Space Center. Its launch date is currently scheduled for February 22, 2008.

Once reaching its intended orbit, the ATV will separate from the Ariane rocket and perform a burn to put it into a transfer orbit—about 250 miles (400 kilometers) by 185 miles (300 kilometers)—with the Space Station.

After three days in lower orbits to the ISS and, thus, in a scenario to catch up with the space station as it increases the height of its orbit, the computers onboard the Jules Verne will automatically guide it to a docked position at the ISS.

The ISS crew will unload the Jules Verne of its fuel and supplies. Over the next six months, they will periodically place waste materials into the craft. Eventually, the Jules Verne will undock from the ISS with about 7.2 tons (6.5 metric tons) of waste onboard and perform a controlled de-burn so that it disintegrates safely within Earth’s atmosphere as it de-orbits over the Pacific Ocean.

The Jules Verne is the first of five planned ATVs for the ESA. About once every two years, another ATV will be sent to the International Space Station by the European Space Agency. The primary contactor for the ATV fleet is EADS Astrium Space Transportation, which leads a multitude of subcontractors in the design and construction of the vehicles.

The name “Jules Verne” was selected to honor French writer Jules Babriel Verne (1828-1905). Verne wrote about travels in air, water, and space before modern vehicles were able to safely transport humans aboard them. He is famous for such works as “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea,” and “Around the World in Eighty Days.”

In this case, Verne will take about an hour and a half to go around the world, not 80 days.

ESA ATV website: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV/index.html