Tag Archives: communications

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

Constant teamwork: scheduling ATV communications

ATV-CC engineers assess relay communication slots
ATV-CC engineers assess relay communication slots

We received a nice note yesterday from ESA's Jean-Michel Bois, Mission Director at ATV-CC, explaining details on the work involved with planning and scheduling communications with ATV-2.

Since ATV separated from its Ariane launcher on 16 February, all communications between ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC) in Toulouse and the vessel - receipt of telemetry and sending of telecommands - have been achieved via data relay satellites. Two relay satellite systems are in use: NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) and ESA's own Artemis satellite.

Jean-Michel writes:

During the current 'phasing' period (i.e. manoeuvring so as to match the ATV orbit with that of the ISS), ATV is communicating primarily via NASA's TDRSS. ATV-CC is using Artemis as a back-up and as a complement when TDRSS communication slots are not available.

The TDRSS satellites can ensure communication during ATV's complete orbit (about once every 90 minutes) thanks to the fact that the system comprises multiple satellites. These are set in a ring in permanent geosynchronous orbit with at least one looking down on all regions the Earth (and on ATV as well!).

ESA's single Artemis satellite is also in geo-orbit, located at 21.4ºE, and offers around 40 minutes of continuous contact during each of ATV's orbits. ESA's Redu station, in Belgium, houses the Artemis mission control room (more details here).

At ATV-CC, it's the task of mission planners and the 'Ops Manager' on console to prepare and manage the communication coverage; this team works in very close coordination with their NASA and Redu counterparts.

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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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The Sun’s up and LEOP is winding down

Jean Michel Bois in ATV-CC just prior to launch 16 Feb 2011

Jean Michel Bois in ATV-CC just prior to launch 16 Feb 2011

A short but very pleasant note came in this morning from ESA's Jean Michel Bois, head of the ESA team here at ATV-CC, who was on shift as Mission Director in the main control room during last night's launch and LEOP (launch and early orbit phase). He wrote:

The Sun's up this morning and the LEOP phase of ATV-2 is over. What a fabulous night! ATV Johannes Kepler is now in the sky and ready for its first manoeuvres to chase after the ISS.

After the disappointment on the 15th when the Ariane countdown was stopped a few minutes before the lift-off, yesterday was a perfect Ariane 5 mission - ending with a very accurate injection into orbit. The level of pressure at ATV-CC was very high as our teams waited for ATV's separation from the upper stage, ready to take control of the vehicle. When the first telemetry from ATV was received by our computers, we knew that launch - a major step - was a success.

Then, one after the other, we could watch the pre-planned events happening on our screens as ATV's systems came to life! These included:

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Another team from Down Under waiting for ATV

Adelaide Team: (from left) Hidayat Soetiyono, Patrick Hoyao and Marc Lavenant

In addition to ESA's big 15-metre ESTRACK dish at Perth, a much smaller one in Adelaide, Australia, has been preparing to track ATV Johannes Kepler.

Located at the Institute for Telecommunications Research (ITR), at the University of South Australia (UniSA), Mawson Lakes campus, 12 km north of Adelaide, it has a 3.0 m steerable antenna operating in the S-band frequency range. The facility is operated and owned by the institute (ITR), which is part of the University of South Australia (UniSA). It also supported the Ariane/ATV-1 launch in March 2008 - and will now track Ariane 5 v200 on 15 February.

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Azorean station to track Ariane launch

Nice update in the ESA website today on Santa Maria station's involvement with the ATV launch. We'll have a post ready for you shortly that explains how ESA's Perth station will support ATV. More information on both stations in ESA's ESTRACK pages here. - DGS

Santa Maria station

Santa Maria station, part of ESA's ESTRACK network

When ATV Johannes Kepler is lofted into space on 15 February, an ESA tracking station on Portugal's Santa Maria island will watch closely, gathering crucial data as Ariane 5 streaks overhead.

In 2008, the Santa Maria station, located five kilometres from the town of Vila do Porto on the Portuguese island of Santa Maria, in the Azores, became the latest station to join ESA's global ESTRACK tracking network. Santa Maria's 5.5 m-diameter antenna provides crucial tracking services for Ariane 5 rockets as they boost Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs) into orbit.

Via ESA web

ESA Mission Director Kris Capelle: ATV’s mission uncovered

We met last week at ATV-CC with ESA's lead Mission Director, Kris Capelle, who oversees all operational aspects of the Johannes Kepler mission. In today's video, he talks us through the complete ATV mission profile from launch to reentry, and provides an authentic, 'working-level' view into the challenges of flying Europe's sophisticated ISS cargo vessel.

ATV flight dynamics team already in action

We met on Friday with ESA's Emilio de Pasquale, ATV Flight Dynamics Engineer at the ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC) in Toulouse. He works closely with the flight dynamics experts from CNES who are already working 'on console' as they will during the actual mission, preparing sophisticated calculations and other 'products' that enable mission controllers, for example, to conduct manoeuvres and other flight activities.

Among other vital tasks, the flight dynamics team carefully plan the complex ATV movements during the launch and early orbit phase, check that all the data relay satellites that communicate with ATV are in sight of the spacecraft when required, and calculate the ATV's trajectory to the ISS with the necessary accuracy needed for safe and successful docking. Sounds easy, but it is far from that!

Watch Emilio explaining what in fact they're doing and why:

When Artemis talks, Johannes Kepler listens

Redu station: 13.5 m tracking antenna is part of ESA's ESTRACK network

Redu station: 13.5 m tracking antenna is part of ESA's ESTRACK network

There's a nice report this morning in ESA's Telecoms website on the role of the Agency's Artemis data rely satellite in ATV communications.

During phasing, rendezvous, docking, undocking and reentry, ATV primarily communicates via NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) - and uses Artemis as backup. During the docked or attached phase, ATV uses Artemis as its main relay. A little later, we'll post a more detailed overview of all the ways in which ground controllers and astronauts can communicate with ATV.

After Ariane 5 lofts ATV Johannes Kepler into space on 15 February, ESA’s Artemis data relay satellite will be ready for action. Artemis will provide communications between Johannes Kepler and the ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC) in Toulouse, France. Hovering some 36 000 km above the equator at 21.4ºE, Artemis will route telemetry and commands to and from the control centre whenever the satellite sees the International Space Station or ATV. During every ATV-2 orbit, there is close to 40 minutes of continuous contact.

Full article via ESA