ATV docks with the ISS

The European Space Agency periodically sends an Automated Transfer
Vehicle to the International Space Station to reload the astronauts
with supplies. On March 28, ATV-3, named Eduardo Amaldi, docked with
the ISS. Astronauts on the station took this unbelievable picture of
it as it approached:

[Click to massively embiggen. And you really, really want to.]

Wow. You can see the thrusters on the ATV burning to control its
approach, like it’s right out of Star Trek! The stars, the green and
brown aerosol layer over the Earth’s limb, the city lights slightly
blurred from the ISS velocity of 8 km/sec – it gives such an eerie and
unearthly feel to the picture!

As, I suppose, it should.

The ATV is amazing: this uncrewed machine can dock with the ISS using
just GPS and star trackers — telescopes that can determine position
and orientation by watching the stars… like ancient mariners did. This
mission carried oxygen, water, hardware, spare parts, food, and even
clothing for the astronauts.

While it’s docked, it may also be used as a booster, gently pushing
the station into a new orbit to avoid space junk, or to boost the
orbit higher. Although there’s almost no air up there, there’s some.
Over time, as the ISS plows through these rarefied molecules, it loses
orbital energy and drops into a lower orbit. Periodic reboosts are
necessary, and the ATV can be used for the job.

The ATV can stay docked for up to six months or so. After that, it
undocks, de-orbits, and burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, making a
spectacular fireball. A blaze of glory, you might say, for a machine
that helps keep humans in space.

Image Credit: NASA
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Picture of money going into a shredder looks remarkably similar.