At the end of a flawless six-month mission, Jules Verne, Europe’s first Automated Transfer Vehicle, undocked from the International Space Station today, September 16th, at 23:29 hours CEST. The ATV has now embarked on the last leg of its journey in space, which will end with a controlled destructive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere on 29 September. The hatches between the ISS and the ATV were closed by the Station crew on 4 September following ATV preparation for automated undocking. Once all other pre-undocking tasks had been performed, the ATV hooks were opened, detaching Europe’s unmanned logistics vehicle from the Station, with a spring mechanism pushing it slowly away. After drifting unpowered for one minute to a distance three metres away from the Station, the ATV deployed its smaller attitude control thrusters to start its departure boost and distance itself further. Within 22 minutes of undocking, the ATV was right below the ISS at a distance of about 5 km, at which point its automatic emergency systems (which can initiate a Station collision avoidance manoeuvre in the unlikely event of this being necessary) were disabled. The ATV has had an exceptionally successful inaugural mission following its launch on 9 March: a perfectly executed in-orbit test phase prior to docking; delivery of the necessary logistics supplies to the Space Station; carrying out four ISS altitude-raising reboosts to counter residual atmospheric drag; additionally performing an ISS debris avoidance manoeuvre on 27 August after fragments of an old satellite came within the Station’s vicinity; and currently loading up with a cargo of dispensable Station items and waste. The ATV has truly demonstrated all its key capabilities, and more. GTD has realized for prime contractor EADS-ASTRIUM, a very important part of the very complex on board software of ATV. This undocking process completes for us the very exciting project made part in Paris and part in Barcelona. Others ATV’s vehicles are waiting now for us…..
