ATV Georges Lemaître
ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs) were an essential contribution by Europe to running the International Space Station. Naming the fifth after Belgian scientist Georges Lemaître continued the tradition of drawing on great European visionaries to reflect Europe’s deep roots in science, technology and culture.
The first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), made a flawless flight in 2008 and was named after French science fiction writer Jules Verne.
It was followed in 2011 by ATV-2, named in honour of German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler.
The third ATV, named after the Italian physicist and space pioneer Edoardo Amaldi headed to the Space Station on 23 March 2012.
ATV-4 carried the name of Albert Einstein.
Naming the last vehicle of the family, ATV-5, after Belgian physicist Georges Lemaître, father of the Big Bang theory, continued this approach.
The name, proposed by Belgium’s delegation to ESA, was endorsed on 14–15 February by the ESA Programme Board responsible for Space Station matters during a meeting at ESA Headquarters in Paris.
On that occasion, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said: “Belgium has been a key participant in the European space adventure since its very beginning.
“Its contribution to ESA programmes and activities in general, and to the International Space Station in particular, has been a success for both Belgium and ESA.
“By naming ATV-5 after Georges Lemaître, we honour a world-class Belgian scientist who was instrumental in expanding our knowledge of the origins of the Universe.”
The Belgian Minister responsible for Space, Paul Magnette, noted: “I am extremely happy that the great Belgian scientist George Lemaître, born in my hometown, is honoured in this way.
“This shows that his work and achievements have not been forgotten and are still relevant so many decades on.
“Clearly, Belgium’s involvement in space in Europe has deep roots and is based on a long tradition.
“The ATV Georges Lemaître will carry supplies to the International Space Station, allowing today’s – equally excellent – Belgian researchers to carry out experiments and research in space, thus pushing the boundaries of human knowledge forward in the tradition of Georges Lemaître.”
The mission began from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 23:47 GMT on 29 July (01:47 CEST 30 July, 20:47 local time 29 July) on an Ariane 5 ES rocket.
The vehicle delivered 6561 kg of freight, including 2628 kg of dry cargo and 3933 kg of water, propellants and gases.
During Georges Lemaître’s rendezvous using its proven system, the Laser Infrared Imaging Sensors, or LIRIS, experiment was turned on some two and a half hours and 3500 m from the Space Station. All of the sensors worked as expected and a large amount of data was recorded and stored on hard disks in ATV’s cargo hold.
With ATV-5 pointing directly at the Station, the LIRIS infrared cameras tracked the weightless research centre perfectly despite several 30-minute periods in darkness when the Sun was eclipsed by Earth and traditional cameras would have gone blind.
ATV-5 remained attached to the International Space Station for six months before reentering the atmosphere and deliberately burning up together with several tonnes of Station waste.
On Saturday 14 February, ESA’s fifth and last Automated Transfer Vehicle, Georges Lemaître, undocked from the International Space Station at 13:40 GMT. Less than 30 hours later the spacecraft burnt up harmlessly in a controlled reentry over the Pacific Ocean, marking the end of the programme.
Its final pass over Earth was captured by photographers around Europe shortly after the spacecraft left the weightless research laboratory. Many people all over Europe went outside to bid the spacecraft a fond farewell – it could be seen with the naked eye and captured on standard cameras. Their images have been collected on the ATV blog.
ATVs delivered more than 31 500 kg of supplies over the course of five missions. They boosted the Station to raise its orbit numerous times and similarly moved it out of the way of space debris.
The vehicles demonstrated European mastery of automated docking, a technology that is vital for further space exploration.
The knowledge gained by ESA and European industry from designing, building and operating the complex ATV missions is instrumental for ESA’s participation in NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which will fly astronauts to the Moon and beyond.