One hour and 6 minutes after lift-off of the Ariane-5 ES launcher from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 9 March 2008 at 05:03 CET, Jules Verne ATV was placed in a circular orbit at 51.6° relative to the equator. At that point in time, the Guiana Space Centre transferred mission authority to ESA's ATV Control Centre located at the CNES site in Toulouse. Jules Verne ATV was then positioned 2000 km from the ISS while awaiting US Space Shuttle Endeavour's return to Earth on the night of 26 to 27 March.

In the next few days, the CNES and ESA operational teams, supported by the teams of the ATV prime contractor, Astrium, will carry out manoeuvres aimed at positioning the ATV near the ISS and beginning the final approach phase.

The two main manoeuvres (Demoday 1 and Demoday 2), currently scheduled for 29 and 31 March, are intended to demonstrate the ATV's ability to dock entirely safely with the ISS and, in particular, to perform an escape manoeuvre commanded by the ISS crew when Jules Verne is just 12 metres away from the station.

The docking of Jules Verne ATV is scheduled for 3 April at 16:41 CEST. The final decision on whether to proceed with this manoeuvre will be taken by the ISS Mission Management Team in consultation with the European partners only 24 hours before the operations.

For this first attempt, ESA and CNES will be organising live transmission of the event from the ATV Control Centre at CNES in Toulouse to the various European sites.

The ATV Control Centre at CNES in Toulouse will act as focal point for media in France and will be home to experts who will be on hand for interviews and background information.

Journalists wishing to watch these manoeuvres from one of the above-mentioned sites are asked to kindly complete the attached accreditation form and fax or email it to the Establishment of their choice.

For more information and updates on Jules Verne ATV, including live streaming of Demoday 2 on 31 March (video feed courtesy NASA TV) and the first docking attempt on 3 April see: http://www.esa.int/atv.

 
Video transmission of the first docking attempt by ESA’s Jules Verne ATV

To be faxed back to the Establishment of your choice.

First name: ___________________ Last name:_________________

Media organisation: ________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________

Tel:___________________________ Fax: _______________________

Mobile:_______________________ Email: ______________________

I will be attending the video transmission of the first docking attempt by ESA’s Jules Verne ATV on Thursday 3 April at the following site:

[ ] France

ATV-CC at CNES Toulouse

Address: 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31410 Toulouse

Opening hours: 15:30-17:30

Contact: Eliane Moreaux Tel: +33 (0)5 61 27 33 44, Fax: +33 (0)5 61 28 29 39

Email: Eliane.Moreaux@cnes.fr

[ ] France

Location: ESA HQ

Address: 8/10, rue Mario-Nikis, Paris 15

Opening hours: 15:30-17:30

Contact: Bernhard Von Weyhe, Tel: +33 (0)1 5369 7158, Fax: +33 (0)1 53 69 76 90

Email: media @esa.int

[ ] Germany

Location: ESA/EAC

Adress: Linder Höhe, 51147 Köln

Opening hours: 15:00-17:00

Contact: Jules Grandsire, Tel:+49 2203 6001 205, Fax: +49 2203 6001 112

Email: Jules.Grandsire@esa.int

[ ] The Netherlands

Location: ESA/ESTEC, Erasmus Centre

Address: Keplerlaan 1, Noordwijk

Opening hours: 15:30-17:30

Contact: Michel van Baal, Tel: +31 71 565 3006, Fax: +31 71 565 5728

Email: wil.spangenberg@esa.int

[ ] Italy

Location: ESA/ESRIN

Address: Via Galileo Galilei, Frascati (Rome)

Opening hours: 15:30-17:30

Contact: Dieter Isakeit, Tel: +39 06 941 80 950, Fax: +39 06 941 80 952

Email: Dieter.Isakeit@esa.int

[ ] Spain

Location: ESA/ESAC

Address: Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n Urbanización Villafranca del Castillo

Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid

Opening hours: 15:30-17:30

Contact: Monica Oerke, Tel: + 34 91 813 13 27 / 59 / 84, Fax: +34 91 813 12 19

Email: Monica.Oerke@esa.int