(Part 1 of a series) Welcome to the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, where you’ll find the only full-size, realistic ATV mock-up anywhere!

This mock-up – faithfully showing just how big ATV really is – and the simulation control room near by are used to train astronauts from ESA and the international ISS partner agencies how to monitor ATV docking and use the vessel when it is docked to the ISS during the ‘attached phase’. ESA’s Lionel Ferra is the training expert who oversees the training, and in the following video (first of two) he explains the basics of ATV training for astros.