ATV : next step
ESA TV News Special Ministerial
Format 4:3
With a series of marking moments, 2008 has been a great year for Europe in the domain of human spaceflight and exploration.
The success of the ATV has notably opened the door to a next phase: the development of new versions of the spacecraft which would first ensure the return of samples from the International Space Station and in a second step, manned flights.
The proposals will be a major item on the agenda of the ESA Council of Ministers in the Hague on 25-26 November.
For more info on this subject please check the script that is online as a PDF file under :
http://television.esa.int/photos/EbS60453.pdf
A WMV preview clip is online under : http://esa.contentcoders.com/mphi/ATV_NEXT_STEP_TV_14-11-08_wmplow.wmv
A special file containing two new 3D animations (in 16:9 format) of missions from launch to return to Earth of the envisaged cargo and manned capsules is also available for download under : http://esa.contentcoders.com/mpeg2/ATV_New_Animat

ATV, the next step
Tape starts: 00:00:00
A-Roll starts: 00:01:00
00:01:40
This spring, during stays at the International Space Station, ESA astronauts Léopold Eyhardts and Hans Schlegel fitted out the newly-attached European Columbus module, giving European scientists and industry their own permanent laboratory in space.
00:02:00
Ariane 5 also launched Europeís Automated Transfer Vehicle, the ATV dubbed « Jules Verne ». After remotely and safely docking with the ISS, the cargo vessel and space tug served as an integral part of the orbital complex during five months before a successful destructive re-entry over the Pacific.
00:02:22
These two milestones have opened a new era for Europeís presence in space with the aspiration to consolidate its independence.
00:02:31
Clip Simonetta Di Pippo, Director Human Spaceflight, ESA
""Now what we need is to develop the last segment of this chain which is the capability to safely bring back first samples and then humans to the Earth and then also being able to operate this