Jules Verne successfully docks with Space Station: First ESA ATV at ISS

William Atkins
Thursday, 03 April 2008 20:59

Science - Space

During its time docked with the space station, the Jules Verne will fire its four engines in order to boost the space station into a higher orbit.

The boost will be performed to raise the space station into its correct altitude for the arrival of the STS-124 crew in its NASA space shuttle Discovery, whose launch is set for May 31, 2008, and its docking early in June.

The space station’s orbit decays gradually over time so it or other vehicles must fire engines to move it to a higher-in-altitude orbit.

Because the Jules Verne is the first ATV sent into space by the ESA, it has undergone an intensive series of tests over the past three weeks to make sure all of its systems are running nominally.

One such test was the Collision Avoidance Maneuver (CAM), which was performed on March 13 and March 14, which tested the spacecraft’s ability to back off from the space station should its systems fail during final approach to the station.

After showing its systems are working properly, the Jules Verne then began a series of rendezvous maneuvers to raise its orbit in order to approach the ISS.

All of its rendezvous maneuvers will be performed automatically by its computers. At a point of about 817 feet (249 meters) from the space station, the craft will use global positioning system (GPS) and star trackers (using positions of stars to navigate) to perform its last rendezvous maneuvers.

The final docking will be performed with a videometer—an instrument that sends out pulses of laser beams at reflectors mounted on the Zvezda module—and a telegoniometer—a device that uses a technique very similar to radar tracking.

As tested earlier, the Expedition 16 crew of the ISS will be able to abort the docking of the Jules Verne at any time, except when the craft has reached a distance of about three feet (one meter) away from the space station.

While at the space station, the crew will remove the eight-ton cargo of the ATV and replace it with waste materials. The liquid fuel inside tanks onboard the Jules Verne will also be transferred to the ISS.

After its six-month mission, the Jules Verne will then undock from the space station and be de-orbited so that it is destroyed as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.

Learn more about the ESA ATV program at Jules Verne ATV.