Andrew Yee[_1_]
April 25th 08, 05:40 PM
ESA News
http://www.esa.int
25 April 2008
Jules Verne boosts ISS orbit
ESA's Jules Verne ATV was used for the first time early this morning to
raise the orbit of the International Space Station. A 740-second burn of the
Automated Transfer Vehicle's main engines successfully lifted the altitude
of the 280-tonne Station by around 4.5 km to a height of 342 km above the
Earth's surface.
After the ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC) in Toulouse, France, had 'woken up'
Jules Verne ATV, the manoeuvre started at 06:22 CEST (04:22 GMT) this
morning and provided a 2.65 m/s thrust using two of the ATV's four main
engines. Controllers at ATV-CC closely monitored ATV's subsystems throughout
the long manoeuvre.
"The Station's altitude naturally decreases with atmospheric drag. Until now
this has been compensated for by performing a re-boost using the Russian
Progress, the Space Shuttle or by the ISS itself," explains Alberto Novelli,
ESAs Mission Director at ATV-CC. "Today, ATV has successfully demonstrated
that it too is able to perform this vital function. Only Progress and ATV
can provide this high level of re-boost. ATV is unique due to the quantity
of fuel available for such manoeuvres."
The re-boost manoeuvre comes just three weeks after Jules Verne ATV
successfully docked with ISS on 3 April 2008 delivering 1150 kg of dry
cargo, including food, clothes and equipment, as well as additional supplies
of water, oxygen and fuel. Since then, the European ISS resupply spacecraft
has been in dormant mode attached to the docking port on the Russian Zvezda
module.
Today's re-boost sets up the International Space Station for the arrival of
Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-124 mission to deliver the Japanese Kibo
laboratory. STS-124 is currently targeted for launch on 31 May 2008. Further
re-boost manoeuvres using ATV are scheduled for 12 June, 8 July and 6
August.
Jules Verne ATV is scheduled to remain docked to the International Space
Station until early August. At the end of its mission, Jules Verne, loaded
with up to 6.5 tonnes of material no longer required by the ISS, will undock
and then burn up completely during a guided and controlled re-entry high
over the Pacific Ocean.
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMPEISZEFF_index_1.html ]
http://www.esa.int
25 April 2008
Jules Verne boosts ISS orbit
ESA's Jules Verne ATV was used for the first time early this morning to
raise the orbit of the International Space Station. A 740-second burn of the
Automated Transfer Vehicle's main engines successfully lifted the altitude
of the 280-tonne Station by around 4.5 km to a height of 342 km above the
Earth's surface.
After the ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC) in Toulouse, France, had 'woken up'
Jules Verne ATV, the manoeuvre started at 06:22 CEST (04:22 GMT) this
morning and provided a 2.65 m/s thrust using two of the ATV's four main
engines. Controllers at ATV-CC closely monitored ATV's subsystems throughout
the long manoeuvre.
"The Station's altitude naturally decreases with atmospheric drag. Until now
this has been compensated for by performing a re-boost using the Russian
Progress, the Space Shuttle or by the ISS itself," explains Alberto Novelli,
ESAs Mission Director at ATV-CC. "Today, ATV has successfully demonstrated
that it too is able to perform this vital function. Only Progress and ATV
can provide this high level of re-boost. ATV is unique due to the quantity
of fuel available for such manoeuvres."
The re-boost manoeuvre comes just three weeks after Jules Verne ATV
successfully docked with ISS on 3 April 2008 delivering 1150 kg of dry
cargo, including food, clothes and equipment, as well as additional supplies
of water, oxygen and fuel. Since then, the European ISS resupply spacecraft
has been in dormant mode attached to the docking port on the Russian Zvezda
module.
Today's re-boost sets up the International Space Station for the arrival of
Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-124 mission to deliver the Japanese Kibo
laboratory. STS-124 is currently targeted for launch on 31 May 2008. Further
re-boost manoeuvres using ATV are scheduled for 12 June, 8 July and 6
August.
Jules Verne ATV is scheduled to remain docked to the International Space
Station until early August. At the end of its mission, Jules Verne, loaded
with up to 6.5 tonnes of material no longer required by the ISS, will undock
and then burn up completely during a guided and controlled re-entry high
over the Pacific Ocean.
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMPEISZEFF_index_1.html ]