ATV Albert Einstein, Europe’s supply and support ferry, docked with the International Space Station last Saturday. This image, taken from the Station, reveals the exhaust plumes as the 20-tonne craft fires some of its 24 thrusters to adjust its approach.

ATV-4 seen from ISS during docking 15 June 2013 Credit: ESA/NASA

ATV-4 seen from ISS during docking 15 June 2013 Credit: ESA/NASA

The docking was so precise that Albert Einstein was only 11 mm off centre, hitting its target without touching the surrounding docking cone: “A hole in one,” as controllers remarked at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France. Russian specialists there said they had never seen such precision before.