Before Europe's advanced space transporter is ready for launch on its voyage to the International Space Station, the components that make up ATV Albert Einstein have traveled quite some kilometers over sea, land and air:
Columbus Control Centre. Credits: G. Zoeschinger, Col-CC
Volare mission director Roland Luettgens keeps us updated on ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano's mission to the International Space Station from mission control at the Columbus Control Centre. Luca will be onboard to welcome ESA's ATV-4:
Luca left for Baikonur to start his period in quarantine, it is the next step towards launch. Time is running out fast, and at the Columbus Control Centre we need to get back to normal operations for Luca’s launch of Soyuz 35S on 28 May.
The spacewalk and follow-up activities due to the ammonia leakage on the International Space Station has kept us busy around the clock. Doing an unplanned spacewalk, on such short notice requires all teams on ground as well as the astronauts in space to work under great pressure to get everything ready. Onboard systems need to be reconfigured to support the spacewalk, all plans have to change and extra teams are pulled in to support the people working on mission console. They are all doing a good job !!
After the departure of astronauts Chris Hadfield, Roman Romaneko and Tom Marshburn on the Soyuz spacecraft 33S last Monday we are back to operating the International Space Station with only three crewmembers. This means we can get less done until the next crew arrives. The next crewmembers are essential to conduct some activities we urgently need to do.
ATV-4 getting ready for launch. Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Video du CSG
Once Luca arrives in space, he will go through a so-called adaptation period during which we cannot plan many activities until he gets acclimatised. One week later we start planning more and more tasks for him, until he has a full working day Monday to Friday. We can only plan up to 6.5 hours of his time every day and his planning is already full.
Two weeks later, on 15 June, ESA’s ATV-4 spacecraft will arrive carrying more than six tonnes of cargo of which 200 kg are for ESA. One item is an experiment called FASES which Luca needs to install right after the arrival of ATV in order to get the science started.
ATV-4 is being loaded with its final cargo. When Luca is ready to fly, ATV will be fully loaded and waiting to launch on the 5 June.
…11 days left to launch, and counting….
ATV Albert Einstein, as all spacecraft, needs a specific launcher adapter to connect the spacecraft to its Ariane rocket. We received some great pictures of Ariane's 'crowning' in Kourou and the whole process of integrating the (black) launcher adapter and ATV itself. Precision work with a 12-tonne spacecraft! A story in images:
ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Video du CSG
ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Video du CSG
Update sent in earlier today from ESA's Charlotte Beskow, now in ATV-CC Toulouse – Ed.
Early May in Europe is a time with many 'holidays'. These vary from country to country, which makes for some tricky planning when you are working on a Pan-European project.
In addition it gives a false sense of having plenty of time, whereas in reality things are moving towards launch at a fast pace! Here is a short summary of where we stand since 7 May.
7 May - ATV into the container used to transport it to BAF
ATV-4 being moved into the container (CCU3) used to transport it to BAF at Kourou on 7 May 2013. Credit: ESA/C. Beskow
Transfer of ATV-4 to the 'Batiment Assemblage Finale' (BAF) by special truck in the early hours of the morning.
Later this day: RSCE General Designer Review concludes that ISS is ready to receive ATV-4.
8 May - ORB & Lifting ATV
The ESA Operations Readiness Board concludes that ATV-4 is ready to be launched (pending some normal 'open' work items). ATV Einstein is hoisted up the "chimney" in the BAF and installed on top of Ariane 5.
13 May - Go for late cargo loading
Meeting to give the OK for the final so-called 'late' cargo loading. This is done by opening the ATV hatch and having an operator descend into ATV using a specially built elevator.
Late cargo loading: The operator stands on the platform inside the ring Credit: ESA/C. Beskow
The picture shows the required structure during preparation (easier to see how impressive it is!). The operator stands on the platform inside the ring, and then the elevator descends into the fully packed ATV.
Late cargo loading: The elevator then descends into the fully packed ATV. Credit: ESA/C. Beskow
Cargo loading is planned for Tue and Wed, 14 and 15 May.
In Toulouse, we hold the Test Readiness Review for the final simulations.
Wednesday is a test (JIS - Joint International Simulation – Ed.) with ATV-CC in Toulouse, the Engineering Support Team (EST) from the ATV project office at ESTEC, Moscow and Houston. All are connected via the operational communication links (via ESA's Columbus Control Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich) and all teams and engineers will be on console using their final procedures for rendezvous and docking.
Thursday is the final simulation of the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP); we take the opportunity to advance on whatever open issues remain.
In parallel to all this the NASA Stage Operations Readiness Review (SORR) concludes that ATV is ready to be launched.
The Certificate of Flight Readiness is issued: things are really moving fast!
14 May – EST arrives at ATV-CC
Engineering Support Team members arrive in Toulouse at the Control Center and are given a final briefing before the JIS simulation. This is their last chance to prepare in-situ for the flight.
For most of us, it is also the first simulation where the sim team do not inundate us with failures... so all in all it should be a good couple of days allowing us to get into the right, serene, frame of mind for the launch. In Kourou, the first part of late cargo loading is done.
15 May – JIS starts
Teams are on console at 06:45 and the sim starts at 07:30. As usual, it is impossible to know what time it is. Your body and watch tell you one thing, the wall clock, something completely different. Not only are all operations done on GMT (i.e. two hours different from local CEST) but we are simulating the real flight. Therefore, it is '26 June and about 07:00'. Of course, this is just a simulation date and does not mean that we dock on 26 June (we don't).
So, time for me to go upstairs and join my team in the control room!
– Charlotte
Arianespace marked one of the final steps in preparations for the next Ariane 5 launch as Europe’s latest Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) was integrated atop the heavy-lift workhorse at the Spaceport.
ATV Albert Einstein is lowered into position for integration with its Ariane 5 launcher inside the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building as preparations near completion for next month’s mission. Credits: CNES/ESA/Arianespace/CSG Service optique
This latest ATV – named after German-born physicist Albert Einstein – was lowered by an overhead crane onto its Ariane 5 inside the 90-meter-tall Final Assembly Building in French Guiana.
The payload fairing – which will complete the launcher build up – will be mounted closer to the launch date, allowing for loading of late cargo for the ATV’s International Space Station servicing mission. This second Ariane 5 flight of 2013 is scheduled for a June 5 liftoff.
Integration of the ATV Albert Einstein for Ariane Flight VA213 is part of this month’s activities on four parallel missions involving Arianespace’s complete launcher family at the Spaceport – including the successful orbiting of three passengers by the lightweight Vega vehicle on May 7. Rounding out this month’s action in French Guiana are ongoing preparations for the medium-lift Soyuz Flight VS05, scheduled for June to loft four O3b Networks satellites; and Flight VA214, set in the second half of July with an Ariane 5 to carry the Alphasat and Insat-3D satellites.
Flight VA213’s ATV Albert Einstein will have a liftoff mass of 20,235 kg. – the heaviest payload ever lofted by any Ariane vehicle. In addition to resupply, the ATV will be used for manoeuvring the International Space Station.
Built by an Astrium-led industry team, ATV Albert Einstein will be the fourth such servicing vehicle launched by Arianespace for the European Space Agency.
Via Arianespace
This item not directly related to ATV, but we couldn't help but share this brilliant video by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. Everyone here at the ATV blog wishes Chris a safe journey home!
A revised version of David Bowie's Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.
With thanks to Emm Gryner, Joe Corcoran, Andrew Tidby and Evan Hadfield for all their hard work.
L'apprenti sage DVD
Students send 'Message to Earth' into space via ESA's ATV and back home via the US Dragon capsule - scroll down for link to complete DVD in YT
We have a great little story to share with you today on the completion of an imaginative journey taken by a group of young people from the local community youth group (MJC) in Elbeuf, France, 120km north-west of Paris.
The nine students, aged 9-16, sent a DVD to the ISS on board ATV Eduardo Amaldi, which launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on board Ariane flight VA205 on 23 March 2012. The disc was stored, of course, on board Europe's Columbus science module.
Youth team from MJC Elbeuf
The DVD contained a video, "L'Apprenti sage," produced by the students that spotlighted their vision of our future, how society should develop and their hopes and dreams; environmental issues and the future of our planet were main themes.
L'apprenti sage - Un message à la Terre. Teaser
The group was also invited by ESA and CNES, the French space agency, to visit Europe's Spaceport at Kourou to watch the ATV-3 launch in person during 9-13 March last year.
DVD packed in ATV CTB cargo bag
The launch was, unfortunately, delayed, but the students had an excellent tour of the Arianespace launch facilities as well as the surrounding tropical ecosystem in French Guiana.
The closing link in this tremendous space voyage was provided by SpaceX, when the well-travelled DVD was returned to Earth via the Dragon capsule's CRS-1 mission, 8-28 October 2012. The DVD was then shipped back to Europe via Bremen and returned to the young producers in Elbeuf.
L'Apprenti sage - packing bag
"It's important for all of us who work in space to ensure that young people are given opportunities to develop their interest and passion toward careers in science, technology, engineering and math," says Jean-Michel Bois, Head of the ATV Operations Division at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse.
"This is especially crucial with young people who may not otherwise be exposed to role models or experience inspirational events related to STEM. For youth, participating in a real space adventure can change lives."
The youth were presented with certificates to mark the tremendous voyage taken by their video DVD and to offer congratulations from the managers at ATV-CC and Col-CC.
Best wishes to everyone at MJC Elbeuf!
The full DVD is now available in YT!
Certificate presented to Elbeuf MJC and the DVD Team
More details (in French) via here and here.
Here's the correct answer to the 3rd question in our Mission Quiz ("Name the two crew members who will oversee ATV-4 docking from inside the ISS") courtesy of ESA's Lionel Ferra at EAC/Cologne.
Lionel is a regular source for the ATV blog; he works with the ESA and international partner astronauts in Cologne training them on ATV operations.
Expedition 36 crew members take a break from training at NASA's Johnson Space Center to pose for a crew portrait. Pictured on the front row are Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov (left), commander; and Fyodor Yurchikhin, flight engineer. Pictured from the left (back row) are Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, all flight engineers. Photo credit: NASA
ATV 4 launch 5 June 2013: L - 1 month
ATV transfer to BAF: 6 May (postponed to Tuesday, 7 May)
Note: The latest update from Charlotte Beskow's mission diary from ESTEC and Kourou – Ed.
11-12 April - Thursday-Friday - Kourou-Paris-Toulouse
Time flies... I left French Guiana on 11 April just as the final step of fuelling the Russian tanks got under way. If felt a bit like leaving a race mid way. You stop and everyone else keeps running, cheerily waving as they speed by.
Rain clouds gathering over French Guyana as we lift off Credit: ESA/C. Beskow
I headed back to Europe and to ATV-CC, Toulouse, where a multi-day simulation was scheduled for the following week. Like many of my colleagues, I have multiple roles. One role is to manage the day-to-day business of the launch campaign in Kourou, while another is to set up the Engineering Support Team (EST) in ATV-CC.
Upon arrival in a chilly, but sunny, Europe on Friday morning, I headed for the office in Toulouse where a Joint Control Board meeting was taking place. These serve to iron out the multitude of interface issues between what we call the ground segment, that is:
and the flight segment (who produce, assemble and launch the ATV). We hold these boards on a regular basis and people participate in person or via telephone depending on where they are.
The mission brochure for ATV Albert Einstein "On duty at the International Space Station" is available in five languages. View it online as a 3D magazine, download it for keeping as PDF, or print it out for reading outside in the Sun. Aside from English, we offer the publication in German, French, Italian and Russian.
Or browse the brochure (in English) without even leaving the ATV blog below. Fans of Slideshare can view all the brochures in all languages on the ESA operations Slideshare page.
