Jules Verne ATV

The first ATV was officially named Jules Verne on 9 April 2002; it was originally planned to be one of seven ATVs, and to launch in 2007.[4] By the end of January 2003, most of its components had been assembled.[5] These components were built by several different aerospace companies; the docking and refuelling systems were produced by RSC Energia in Russia, the pressurised section was assembled by Alenia Spazio in Turin, Italy, and the propulsion system was constructed by EADS Astrium in Bremen, Germany.[5] The propulsion system was integrated with the pressurised compartment in Bremen, before the spacecraft was moved to the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, for testing.[5] It arrived at ESTEC on 15 July 2004.[6]

Jules Verne was launched into low Earth orbit atop the maiden flight of the Ariane 5ES carrier rocket. Lift-off from ELA-3 at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, occurred at 04:03:04 UTC on 9 March 2008. The spacecraft separated from its carrier rocket one hour, six minutes and 41 seconds after lift-off, and navigation systems were subsequently activated. Two days later, on 11 March, the four main engines of the ATV were fired for the first time, marking the beginning of several orbital insertion boosts.[7] The Overberg Test Range played a part in relaying ATV telemetry data from a mobile station deployed in New Zealand during the launch phase.

The ATV (right) approaching the ISS (left) during Demo-Day 2.

Because Jules Verne was the first ATV, several on-orbit demonstration tests were performed in order to confirm that it was able to safely approach and dock with the ISS. After launch, the ATV spent three weeks in free flight. It successfully underwent Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre (CAM) tests on 13 March and 14 March, ensuring that the CAM could be conducted as a last back-off mechanism should all other systems fail during the docking manoeuvre.[11]

Jules Verne ATV approaches the ISS on 31 March 2008.

Subsequently, the ATV performed two docking demonstration tests called "demo days". These tests consisted of a series of rendezvous with the ISS, and culminated in its final test: an actual docking with the aft port of the Zvezda service module on 3 April 2008. The rendezvous were performed by a fully automated system using GPS and optical sensors, including a videometer and telegoniometer. When Jules Verne was 249 metres (817 ft) from the space station, the final docking procedure was guided by the videometer, which fired laser pulses at cube-shaped reflectors on the Zvezda module, and the telegoniometer, which functioned like a radar system.[12] The ISS crew could have aborted the docking at any point up until the ATV was one metre from the station (this was known as the CHOP or Crew Hands-Off Point); however, this did not prove necessary. Jules Verne successfully docked with the ISS on 3 April 2008 at 14:45 UTC.

Demo-Day 1 – 29 March 2008

The ATV Approach Display on the ISS on Demo-Day 2, with Jules Verne only a few metres away from the ISS.

During Demo-Day 1, the ATV's first rendezvous with the ISS was conducted. The manoeuvre culminated in a successful rendezvous with the space station at a distance of 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi), despite a minor anomaly with the electronic systems controlling the spacecraft's engines.[13]

Jules Verne started its approach to the ISS at 14:19 UTC. At 15:57, it reached the S₂ hold point and waited there for 90 minutes to conduct tests. The ISS crew then commanded the ATV to conduct hold and retreat manoeuvres. At 17:30, the ATV was commanded to perform an escape manoeuvre, propelling it away from the station.[13]

The ATV (on the left) docked to the ISS (on the right).

After docking and leak checks were conducted, the ISS crew was able to enter the pressurised cargo module and access the ATV's cargo. Jules Verne's liquid tanks were connected to the ISS, and their contents were transferred to the station. The crew manually released air components directly into the ISS's atmosphere. The ISS crew gradually replaced the ATV's cargo with waste for disposal.[18] In total, 270 kilograms (600 lb) of water, 21 kilograms (46 lb) of oxygen and 856 kilograms (1,887 lb) of propellant was transferred to the Zvezda module,[17] and Jules Verne was also used to reboost the space station on four occasions. About 1,150 kilograms (2,540 lb) of dry cargo was removed from the ATV and remained aboard the ISS.[17] In addition, two original manuscripts by Jules Verne, as well as an illustrated French edition of Pierre-Jules Hetzel's From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon, were delivered to the crew of the ISS by the ATV.[1]

Original Jules Verne manuscripts displayed by the ISS crew.

Cosmonauts Sergey Volkov and Oleg Kononenko inside Jules Verne while it was docked to the ISS.

The thrusters of Jules Verne were fired for just over 5 minutes on 27 August 2008 at 16:11 UTC to conduct a debris avoidance manoeuvre. By slowing the station by approximately 1 m/s (3 ft/s), the altitude of the station was lowered by approximately 1.77 km (1.10 mi).[19] This manoeuvre effectively eliminated any chance of a collision with a piece of space debris which had been part of the Kosmos 2421 satellite.

At the time of its docking, the Expedition 16 crew was aboard the space station. This consisted of Peggy Whitson of NASA who was the station's Commander, along with two Flight Engineers; Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Garrett Reisman of NASA. They were replaced by the Expedition 17 crew in April and May, who remained aboard the station at the time of the ATV's departure. This crew consisted of station Commander Sergey Volkov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, and Flight Engineers; Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Gregory Chamitoff of NASA.

Whilst the ATV was docked, two crewed spacecraft visited the space station. In April, Soyuz TMA-12 delivered two members of the Expedition 17 crew, and also carried South Korean spaceflight participant Yi So-Yeon. Space Shuttle Discovery docked in May on STS-124, replacing Reisman with Chamitoff and delivering the Japanese Experiment Module. No member of the European Space Agency was aboard the ISS while Jules Verne was docked.

The ATV was one of the quietest places on the ISS, as it was isolated from the rest of the station. Because of this, the crew used it as sleeping quarters, and also as a place to perform personal hygiene activities.[20] Yi So-yeon also used it as laboratory space where she performed nanotechnology experiments.[21]

On 5 September 2008, Jules Verne undocked and maneuvered to an orbital position 5 km below the ISS. It remained in that orbit until the night of 29 September.[22] At 10:00:27 UTC, Jules Verne started its first de-orbit burn of 6 minutes, followed by a second burn of 15 minutes at 12:58:18 UTC. At 13:31 UTC, Jules Verne re-entered the atmosphere at an altitude of 120 km (75 mi), and then completed its destructive re-entry as planned over the following 12 minutes,[23] depositing debris in the South Pacific Ocean southwest of Tahiti in a particularly well-documented reentry and breakup.[24]

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  Jules Verne re-enters the Earth's atmosphere southwest of Tahiti.

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• John Ellwood, Heinz Wartenberg, Jean-François Clervoy, Frederic Castel, Alberto Novelli & Hervé Come (November 2008). Jule Verne's journey from Earth to ISS | ESA Bulletin 136 (PDF). European Space Agency. Retrieved 5 November 2013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jules Verne (spacecraft).

• ESA – ATV
• ATV Jules Verne reentry video via Space.com