ESA’s Charlotte Beskow is working on console with the ATV-5 Engineering Support Team, and just sent this in.

Half the team have dreadful colds (probably as a consequence of the cold weather last week plus the rather long working hours of the last few days). It is wonderful what aspirins, vitamin C and motivation can do… In fact, the only thing that would keep us at home right now would be a major calamity.

ATV5 is quiet. Following yesterday’s exertions, George is remarkably well behaved. Perhaps he is a bit tired and resigned to his fate.

If yesterday was a bit like Monty Python (think of the scene with the gallant knight on the bridge: “Come on, it is only a flesh wound…”),  today might be an excerpt of the parrot sketch: “This parrot is dead… No, no, he is only resting.” Depending on the availability of the telemetry during the tumbling reentry.  The atmosphere in the control rooms is a bit like the final day at school before graduation.

We are 38 minutes from the first deboost.

Everyone is either on console or near one and conversation has died down to a concentrated murmur.