Tag Archives: ATV Vessel

Update: ISS refuelling planned for 17-19 May

Didier Collin, Flight Director at ATV-CC, and Jean-Michel Bois (at rear), Mission Director (C) and Credit: CNES/S.Girard 2011

Didier Collin, Flight Director at ATV-CC, and Jean-Michel Bois (at rear), Mission Director (C) and Credit: CNES/S.Girard 2011

In mid-May, ATV Johannes Kepler is scheduled to conduct the first refuelling of the ISS. The transfer of propellant from Kepler to the ISS is split into five steps. The first took place on 18 February with a check of the electronics and systems used for the refuelling.

On the 22 March, mission controllers at ATV-CC conducted leak tests - see our earlier post below - to confirm that the fuel line connections between ATV and the ISS were sealed.

The final three steps - including the actual transfer of fuel - are planned for the 17-19 May. Here are a few more interesting details on the 22 March leak tests, courtesy of our colleagues at le blog de l'ATV-2 at CNES.

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Reboost report: ESA Mission Director Kris Capelle

ESA Mission Director Kris Capelle at ATV-CC on docking day, 24 Feb 2011

ESA Mission Director Kris Capelle at ATV-CC on docking day, 24 Feb 2011

We just spoke on the telephone with ESA's lead mission director at ATV-CC, Kris Capelle, who reports that this morning's reboost went very well. The manoeuvre began at 07:00 CET and ran for about 882 seconds. ESA's Jean Christophe Ronnet was on console in the main control room for the reboost, and he's now been replaced by Mike Steinkopf, who will monitor today's cargo activities. Listen to a (telephone-quality) mp3 audio recording below.

Can't hear the mp3 above? Download original file here.

ATV2 Reboost plan via NASA

ATV2 Reboost: A one-burn reboost of ISS is scheduled today at 2:00 EDT (07:00 CET) using the ATV OCS (orbital control system) thrusters. Planned burn duration: 14 min 43 sec; delta-V (increase in velocity): 2.16 m/s (7.09 ft/s). Expected mean altitude gain: 3.7 km (2 nmi). Purpose: Set up phasing for the Soyuz 26S and ULF6 launches.

Via NASA - ISS on-orbit status 17 March

ATV control centre: video conference with students for UK science week

ESA's Adam Williams in video conference with UK school

ESA's Adam Williams in video conference with UK school

(updated 18.3) This morning, ESA's Adam Williams, one of the mission directors at ATV-CC in Toulouse, conducted a Q&A video conference with almost 400 very enthusiastic 7- to 11-year-old students at Preistmead Primary School, Harrow, near London, UK. The call went very well! "They were brilliant - and they asked a lot of very good questions," he said. The questions ranged from "How do you become an astronaut?" to "How high is the ISS?" and "How did the world and the solar system begin?" Adam remarked that it was great to communicate live from ATV Control Centre with such a keen group of young space enthusiasts.

The call coincided with UK Science & Engineering Week, sponsored by the British Science Association, comprising a 10-day programme of around 3,500 events running throughout the whole of the UK with the aim of celebrating science, engineering and technology. Some nice photos are below, courtesy of our colleagues at CNES's Blog de l'ATV.

Editor's note: We'd love to hear from Priestmead school with any photos, video clips or reactions!

ESA's Adam Williams in video conference with UK school

ESA's Adam Williams in video conference with UK school

ESA's Adam Williams in video conference with UK school

ESA's Adam Williams in video conference with UK school

Image credit: Prodigima Films 2011 pour le CNES

ESA’s Paolo Nespoli inside the ATV on YouTube

ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli has sent a video response in which he answers a question posed via YouTube from José María Ortega Hernández, from Málaga, Spain. José María asked how ATV Johannes Kepler would be used once it reached the ISS - and astro Paolo is pretty much the best-placed guy to answer this! Thanks, José María, for your question - and thanks, Paolo, for a detailed reply and 'insider tour' from 400 kilometres up!

Astronaut Paolo Nespoli's reply

José María Ortega Hernández, 17 years old, from Málaga, Spain, asks the question...

ATV reboosts & O2 delivery – and Japan quake disrupts ISS operations

In the past few days, we picked up several bits of ATV- and station-related news, which we've wrapped up below into today's Sunday morning update. (Click on 'continue reading' below for the full post.)

First, from ESA's Charlotte Beskow at the ATV programme office, who emailed to report on the results of the oxygen (O2) release that took place Friday, 11 March. ISS flight engineer Paolo Nespoli set up ATV's Gas Control Panel (GCP) for a 10-mmHg O2 (oxygen) delivery - the '10mmHg' refers to the amount of gas to be released in terms of an increase in pressure inside the ISS.

He then conducted the first pressurization of the ISS cabin atmosphere from the ATV Gas Delivery System (GDS)'s gas line No. 1. Basically, this involves operating a valve to release the oxygen into the interior compartment of the ATV, which since docking on 24 February, is simply an integral interior portion of the ISS - and the O2 diffuses into the Station.

An animation showing a reboost performed by ATV Jules Verne in 2008

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What’s up with ATV?

ATV-2 delivers: A cool video report spotlighting what's been happening with ATV Johannes Kepler since the hugely successful docking on 24 February. We're also planning a more detailed report later this week on flight operations and ISS reboosts conducted by ATV in the past 12 days.

ATV-2 thermal blanket upgrades

ATV Jules Verne 2008

ATV Jules Verne 2008 - loose thermal blanket can be seen at upper left

A few days ago, @Space_Pete sent in a query via Twitter asking about the Multi-Layer Insulation issue that occurred with ATV Jules Verne in 2008 and how this had been addressed for ATV Johannes Kepler. His question referred to a problem that occurred during the ATV-1 mission when, after launch, portions of the MLI - the brilliant, white thermal blanket that covers the ATV - came lose from several mooring points and, basically, just flapped free.

The absence of thermal protection over portions of the ATV's Integrated Cargo Carrier (the portion of ATV that carries the cargo) allowed heat to leak to space and caused some on-board heaters to work more than expected. Because the thermal and power situation remained acceptable, however, this was not considered a problem and the mission continued normally.

We passed the question over the ESA's Nico Dettmann, Head of the ATV Production Programme, who sent in this reply.

The Jules Verne Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) partially detached from its fixation points because of a 'ballooning' or 'pillowing' effect of the MLI blankets. The depressurisation rate during lift off was underestimated. As a result, the air captured in the MLI compartments - basically, underneath the blanket - could not escape fast enough, leading the MLI to 'balloon' up. The MLI attachment points were not designed to withstand the resulting forces of the ballooning and partially detached.

Both the ballooning and the detachment were clearly visible in the photos taken from the ISS cameras when Jules Verne arrived at the station of docking.

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CBC interview with ESA’s Kristen MacDonnell

Very nice report from 15 February by Canada's CBC on ATV launch - includes audio interview with Kirsten MacDonnell, ESA's (Canadian!) engineer looking after cargo and load planning. Access via CBC.ca

ATV-2 is in orbit: What’s next?

A very interesting annotated video (no audio) courtesy of ESA TV showing the critical steps taking place now that ATV is in orbit. The video covers the 8-day period from launch on 16 February up to docking, scheduled this week on 24 February. Scroll down to read explanation of annotations. Thanks, Martin!

EARLY OPERATIONS

Start just a few minutes after separation from Ariane, high over Australia, ATV-2 is on an orbit at 260km altitude, ISS is higher at just over 350 km, but is no where near: it's about 22,000 km away… that's more than halfway around the globe. (dephased by 190°). Kourou has handed over control to ATV-CC in Toulouse. The satellite is being checked out, its precise orbit is being determined, and it unfurls its solar arrays to obtain power. Navigation begins: first with its star-trackers, then using the GPS constellation.

SYNCHRONISATION

In techie terms: 'phasing the orbit' - in short, adjusting ATV's orbit so that it catches up, or is 'synchronous' with the ISS. The spacecraft will travel around the Earth many times, covering some 500,000 km. During this time, it is in yaw steering mode and navigating using GPS in absolute mode. At the end of this sequence lasting up to 24 February, ATV will be still at its 260 km high orbit, but now only 30 km away from ISS.

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