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 13 Feb 2014

ESA's third Automated Transfer Vehicle, scheduled for launch on an Ariane 5 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on 23 March, is planned to dock with the International Space Station five days later.

ATV-3 will automatically dock with the Station's Russian Zvezda module during the night of 28%u201329 March. The precise time will be known after launch, which is set for 04:31 GMT (05:31 CET) on Friday, 23 March.

The flight of ATV-3 is part of the internationally coordinated servicing effort to support the International Space Station.

ATV-3 EDOARDO AMALDI MISSION
 584
      21 Mar 2012
    4:16  
The making of ATV-3

ESA's third Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV Edoardo Amaldi (ATV-3), is ready for launch to the International Space Station. ESA's formal Launch Readiness Review on Monday revealed no problems with the vessel. Launch is set for this Friday at 04:34 GMT (05:34 CET).

The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is the largest cargo vessel supplying the International Space Station with food, water supplies and propellants.

The Ariane and ATV Edoardo Amaldi will be rolled to the launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. The total vehicle mass is 777 tonnes - the heaviest ever for an Ariane. This ATV is also the rocket's heaviest payload so far.

 105
      23 Mar 2012
    3:27  
Launch highlights

ESA's ATV Edoardo Amaldi lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, today at 04:34 GMT (05:34 CET, 01:34 local) on an Ariane 5 launcher, operated by Arianespace, heading towards the International Space Station.

The Automated Transfer Vehicle, the most complex spacecraft ever produced in Europe, is now en route to deliver essential supplies to the orbital outpost. It will also reboost the Space Station's orbit while it is attached for about five months.

ATV Edoardo Amaldi is the third in a series of five supply ships developed in Europe to fulfil its obligation towards the exploitation costs of the Station.

This vessel is the first to have been processed and launched within the target rate of one per year.

The launcher with its 20-tonne payload started its flight over the Atlantic towards the Azores and Europe.

An initial eight-minute burn of Ariane's upper stage took ATV-3 into a low orbit inclined at 51.6 degrees to the equator.

After a 42-minute coast, the upper stage reignited to circularise the orbit at an altitude of 260 km. About 64 minutes into flight, the supply ship separated from the upper stage.

Twenty-five minutes later, ATV-3 started deploying its four solar wings, which was completed a few minutes later, marking the end of the launch phase.

ATV Edoardo Amaldi is now making a series of manoeuvres to rendezvous with the Space Station on 28 March at the projected time of 22:34 GMT (00:34 CEST) where it will dock under its own control with Russia's Zvezda module.

During the mission, the ferry is being monitored by the ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC), in collaboration with Space Station control centres in Moscow and Houston. ATV-CC is located in Toulouse, France, on the premises of the French space agency, CNES.

 439
      29 Mar 2012
    2:54  
Launch and docking highlights

ESA's ATV Edoardo Amaldi (ATV-3) has completed the first stage of its docking with the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station.

The docking occurred smoothly when ATV's docking probe was captured by Zvezda's docking cone at 00:31 CEST ( 22:31 GMT).

The docking probe is now retracting, to be followed by the hooks between the two craft closing. The data and electrical connections will then be established.

The 20-tonne vessel, flying autonomously while being continuously monitored from the ground, docked with the 450-tonne orbital complex with a precision of 6 cm as they circled Earth at more than 28 000 km/h.

Like its predecessors, ATV-3 has a multifaceted mission. As a space tug, it is loaded with 3150 kg of propellant to reboost the Station's orbit to compensate for the natural decay in altitude caused by atmospheric drag or to move it from the path of potentially hazardous space debris. ATV also provides attitude control when other spacecraft are approaching the Station.

As a space tanker, it is delivering 860 kg of propellant, 100 kg of oxygen and air, and 280 kg of drinking water, all to be pumped into the Station's tanks.

As a space freighter, it carries 2200 kg of dry cargo such as scientific equipment, spare parts, food and clothes for the astronauts.

During the five months it will spend docked to the Station, it will act as a temporary space module, providing 45 cubic metres of extra crew quarters on the orbital outpost. On previous missions, ATV was welcomed by the astronauts as %u201Cthe quietest place in the Station%u201D and was often the preferred area for working.

At the end of its mission, scheduled for 27 August, ATV-3 will separate from the Station, packed with waste bags. The following day, it will be directed to burn up safely in the atmosphere during reentry over the South Pacific Ocean.

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