ESA - ESA Spacecraft Operations - Jules Verne ATV given ‘go’ for docking

Background

About us Profile: The Right Stuff

SSA programme

Space Situational Awareness

Multimedia (click)

Image gallery Video gallery Animation gallery

Ground Systems Engineering

Ground Systems team at ESOC

Mission families

Solar & planetary Astronomy & Fundamental Physics Earth Observation Human Spaceflight Technology Demonstration Past missions ESA mission history - Find a mission: A...Z

Mission control centres

ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC)Columbus Control Centre (Col-CC)

Worldwide ground station network

ESTRACK tracking stations ESTRACK Control Centre - Find a station: A...Z

OPS Community

Advanced Mission Concepts & Technologies Office HSO Exchange Knowledge Management ESA Ground Operation System (EGOS)

Services

Publications ESA-sponsored conferences Help Subscribe

News


Jules Verne ATV as seen from the ISS during a rendezvous test on 29 March 2008

Jules Verne ATV given ‘go’ for docking

2 April 2008
Jules Verne was today formally cleared to proceed with the first ISS docking attempt, scheduled for 3 April 2008 at 16:41 CEST (14:41 UT). The official go-ahead came from the International Space Station Mission Management Team (IMMT) after two flawless demonstration days in which Jules Verne proved its operational capabilities.

"We have proven that Jules Verne's systems are safe, reliable and ready to dock to the Station. Everyone has worked very hard to get to this point, and we have also proven that the team on the ground is fully ready for tomorrow's first attempt," said John Ellwood, ESA's ATV Project Manager.

The formal permission came during today's IMMT meeting held at 13:00 CEST (11:00 UT), in which ESA together with its ISS partners reviewed the Automated Transfer Vehicle's (ATV) performance from Demonstration Day 2.

Demo Day 2, held on 31 March, saw Jules Verne conduct a series of challenging manoeuvres and confirm that the spacecraft could autonomously navigate itself using optical guidance and close to station keeping point S41, just 11 m from the ISS. Jules Verne also reacted perfectly to an 'Escape' command issued by astronauts on board the ISS, proving that the vessel can automatically withdraw to a safe location when so commanded.

Tomorrow's docking attempt will see Jules Verne move past station keeping point S41 to actually dock with the Russian ISS module's docking port. Contact of the vessel's docking probe is expected at 16:41 CEST (14:41 UT), with full capture scheduled at 17:15 CEST (15:15 UT). If the docking does not occur for any reason, the next possible window occurs 48 hours later on Saturday, 5 April.

The rendezvous and docking will be monitored from ESA's ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France, in cooperation with the Russian control centre in Moscow and the NASA control centre in Houston.

The rendezvous and docking will be broadcast live by ESA TV, 16:00-17:15 CEST (14:00-15:15 UT); details are available on the ESA TV web page under http://television.esa.int/.

The event will also be streamed live via the ESA website starting at 16:00 CEST (14:00 UT); the link will be made available shortly before on http://www.esa.int/atv.

Send this page to a friend

Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)

ATV Blog

Impressive dress-rehearsal for Jules Verne ATV Jules Verne ATV Demonstration Day 2 sequence of events Jules Verne demonstrates key capabilities Jules Verne demonstrates flawless Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre Jules Verne ready to demonstrate critical manoeuvre Successful manoeuvres position Jules Verne ATV for crucial tests Europe launches its first resupply ship to the ISS Replay of launch and solar array opening of Jules Verne ATV