Follow the launch of ATV 'Jules Verne' live from ESA sites across Europe (Forwarded)

European Space Agency
Press Release No. 13-2008
Paris, France 29 February 2008

Follow the launch of ATV 'Jules Verne' live from ESA sites across Europe

With ESA's Columbus laboratory successfully attached and operating on the
International Space Station, the time has now come for another European
milestone mission to leave for the ISS -- that of the first Automated
Transfer Vehicle (ATV), named 'Jules Verne'.

Europe's massive 19 357 kg supply spacecraft will be carried into orbit by a
special version of the Ariane 5 launcher. This Ariane is now scheduled to
lift off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 8 March at
01:28 local time, 05:28 CET [0428 UTC]. Media are invited to space centres
across Europe to follow this historic launch live (see details below).

From 2008 onward, ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle will be one of the space
station's supply spacecraft, delivering experiments, equipment and spare
parts, as well as food, air and water for its permanent crew.

Constructed by EADS-Astrium, the ATV, which is the most powerful automatic
spaceship ever built, will carry up to 9 tonnes of cargo to the station as
it orbits 400 km above the Earth.

Equipped with its own propulsion and navigation systems, the ATV is a
multi-functional spacecraft, combining the fully automatic capabilities of
an unmanned vehicle with the safety requirements of a crewed vehicle. Its
mission in space will resemble that, on the ground, of a truck (the ATV)
delivering goods and services to a research establishment (the space
station).

A new-generation high-precision navigation system will guide the ATV on a
rendezvous trajectory towards the station. In early April, Jules Verne will
automatically dock with the station's Russian Service Module, following a
number of specific operations and manoeuvres (on 'Demonstration Days') to
show that the vehicle is performing as planned in nominal and contingency
situations.

It will remain there as a pressurised and integral part of the station for
up to six months until a controlled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere
takes place, during which it will burn up and, in the process, dispose of
6.3 tonnes of waste material no longer needed on the station.

For the launch of this milestone mission, ESA, CNES, DLR and industry
partners are organising coverage of the launch at various centres. ESA
experts as well as industry representatives will be on hand for interviews.

The mission can also be followed on the web at:
http://www.esa.int/atv
Media representatives wishing to follow the event at one of the locations
listed below are requested to fill in the attached registration form and fax
it back to the place of their choice. The event will be followed live at the
following locations:

France
CNES / ESA transmission at Toulouse
Address: Cite de l'Espace, bat. Astralia, Toulouse
Opening hours: 04:30 - 08:00

France
Location: ESA HQ
Address: 8/10, rue Mario-Nikis, Paris 15
Opening hours: 04:30 - 08:00

Germany
EADS-Astrium / ESA / DLR Event
Address: Astrium GmbH, Airbus-Str.1, Bremen
Opening hours: 04:30 - 08:00

Germany
Location: ESA/ESOC
Address: Robert-Bosch Strasse 5, 64289 Darmstadt
Opening hours: 04:45 - 08:00

The Netherlands
Location: ESA/ESTEC, Erasmus Centre
Address: Keplerlaan 1, Noordwijk
Opening hours: 05:00 07:00

Italy
Location: ESA/ESRIN
Address: Via Galileo Galilei, Frascati (Rome)
Opening hours: 04:30 - 08:00

Spain
EVENT CANCELLED
Location: ESA/ESAC
Address: Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo
Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid

For further information, please contact:

ESA Media Relations Office
Communication Department
Tel: +33(0)1 53 69 7158
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690

[NOTE: Images supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM05XJ26DF_index_1.html ]