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ATV Albert Einstein

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european Space agency

From the beginnings of the ‘space age’, Europe has been actively involved in spaceflight. Today it launches satellites for Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications and astronomy, sends probes to the far reaches of the Solar System, and cooperates in the human exploration of space.

Space is a key asset for Europe, providing essential information needed by decision-makers to respond to global challenges. Space provides indispensable technologies and services, and increases our understanding of our planet and the Universe. Since 1975, the European Space Agency (ESA) has been shaping the development of this space capability.

By pooling the resources of 20 Member States, ESA undertakes programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country, developing the launchers, spacecraft and ground facilities needed to keep Europe at the forefront of global space activities.

The Member States are: 18 states of the EU (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) plus Norway and Switzerland. Eight other EU states have Cooperation Agreements with ESA: Estonia, Slovenia, Hungary, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and the Slovak Republic. Bulgaria is negotiating a Cooperation Agreement. Canada takes part in some programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

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4 Mission overview The flight of ATv Albert Einstein

10 serviCinG THe inTernATionAL sPACe sTATion A steady supply of cargo

18 reACHinG THe TArGeT The path to the station

22 TeAM sPiriT ATv ground support

25 enD oF Mission waste disposal

26 wHAT neXT? ATv Georges LemaÎtre

Published by the Strategic Planning and Outreach Office of the ESA Directorate of Human Spaceflight and Operations.

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email: hsocom@esa.int

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Issue date: April 2013

Copyright © 2013 European Space Agency

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→ MISSIon overvIew

the flight of atv Albert Einstein

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one of the most reliable and complex spacecraft ever built in europe is set for another trip to the international space station (iss). named after Albert einstein, the fourth Automated Transfer vehicle (ATv-4) contributes to keep the station and its permanent crew of six working at full capacity.

ATV Albert Einstein will take off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on top of an Ariane 5 ES launcher in June 2013. The spacecraft plays a vital role in Station logistics: it serves as cargo carrier, storage facility and ‘space tug’. Just as its predecessors, the objectives of this mission are to deliver 6.6 tonnes of cargo and maintain the Station’s orbit for six months.

ATV has the largest cargo capability of all vehicles that visit the International Space Station. The fourth in the series carries more dry cargo than any ATV to date, increasing its contribution to the Station.

It is loaded with 2380 kg of propellant to function as a space tug. ATV Albert Einstein’s reboosts help counteract atmospheric drag that causes the Station to lose up to 100 m of altitude each day. ATV can even push the Station, to avoid space debris. It also provides attitude control when other spacecraft are approaching the Station.

As a space freighter, ATV carries 2700 kg of dry cargo such as scientific equipment, spare parts, food and clothes for the astronauts. It also delivers 100 kg of gas, more than 500 litres of drinking water and about 800 kg of propellant − all pumped into the Station’s tanks.

The Station’s needs change with every mission, and there are always last-minute requests of every kind. A new Late Cargo Access Means lift will be used to load larger and heavier bags during the last weeks before launch. This allows for greater flexibility when ATV is already on top of its Ariane 5 rocket.

Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov will be the prime operator monitoring ATV Albert Einstein as it approaches the Station. The 20-tonne vehicle is able to navigate on its own and dock automatically with the Station.

Once attached, ATV Albert Einstein is used as an extra module by the astronauts on board. After around six months, it will undock from the Station filled with a few tonnes of waste water, materials and equipment. ATV Albert Einstein's last journey will be a controlled and destructive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

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a record breaker• HeaviestspacecrafteverlaunchedbyESA

• HeaviestspacecraftlaunchedonanArianerocket

• Cancarryintotalaboutthreetimesthepayload of Russian cargo ships, and somewhat more than the Japanese HTV

• Mostpowerfulreboostcapabilityofanyspacecraft visiting the Station

• CandockautomaticallywiththeStationwithaprecision of better than six centimetres

• Mostsophisticatedflightsoftwareeverdeveloped by ESA

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First stage separation

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destination: International Space Station

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Key dataLaunch site Kourou, French Guiana Launch date 5 June 2013Launcher Ariane 5 ESDocking 2nd half of June 2013Undocking Autumn 2013

ATv-4 Diameter 4.5 mLength 9.8 mTotal vehicle mass 12 039 kgsolar arrays spanned 22.3 m

Ariane 5 es launcherHeight 50.5 mDiameter 5.4 mLift-off mass 760 tonnesPayload mass after launch 19.8 tonnesnumber of missions 69th flight of Ariane 5

As of April 2013. Exact launch and docking date may change.

Rendezvous and docking

Up to two weeks

Attached phase

six months

A 3D launch A 3D video will be produced of one of ATV Albert Einstein most critical phases – the spacecraft separation from its Ariane 5 rocket – a first for a European launch. A pair of cameras in stereo configuration are mounted under the fairing, to observe the spacecraft and the launch vehicle as never before. This 3D video will offer new perspectives to improve our understanding of launches.

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Albert einstein goes to space Albert Einstein’s paper The foundation of the general theory of Relativity predicted that light beams would bend around massive objects. The hypothesis was proven when British astronomer Arthur Eddington observed light beams from distant stars bending as they passed our Sun during a solar eclipse in 1919. This was considered conclusive proof that the theory was valid.

Einstein’s contributions to science overturned our perception of the Universe and his work is used to guide spacecraft. The scientist was born in 1879 in Germany, but studied and spent his early career in Switzerland, where he worked at the Patent Office in Bern. Here he developed his revolutionary ideas and published four fundamental scientific papers on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity and the mass–energy equivalence.

With his theories of relativity and the two-way relation between matter and energy (E=mc2), Einstein is a major icon of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel prize for physics at the age of 42.

ATV Albert Einstein also has strong ties with Switzerland: part of its structure and subsystems are built by Swiss industry, such as the racks, the late-access cargo lift, meteoroid debris protection and critical electronic units.

Left: Albert Einstein lecturing in France in the 1920s. Right: First page of the manuscript The foundation of the general theory of relativity. (Albert Einstein Archives–Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

einstein’s contributions to science overturned our perception of the universe.

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→ ServIcInG the InternatIonal Space StatIon

a steady supply of cargo

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The large-capacity ATvs are essential for delivering supplies to the international space station. with a rate of one mission per year, the european spacecraft offers the largest propulsive support of all vehicles visiting the station. ATv is europe’s way of contributing to the operational costs of building and maintaining the station.

The International Space Station is a shining example of global cooperation, uniting Europe, USA, Russia, Japan and Canada in one of the largest partnerships in the history of science and engineering. This human outpost in Earth’s orbit is a stepping stone for further space exploration.

The endeavour has brought humanity together to live and work in space uninterrupted for over a decade. The 450-tonne complex is the size of a football field – enough room for the crew and a vast array of scientific experiments. There is no single place on Earth where you can find such a laboratory.

The high-flying international laboratory is packed with some of the most technologically sophisticated facilities to support a wide range of scientific enquiry in human physiology, biology, fundamental physics, fluid and materials sciences, Earth observation and space science.

did you know?• In clear skies around sunset or sunrise,

the International Space Station can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.

• The Station is larger than a conventionalfive-bedroom house, with two toilets, fitness facilities and a 360-degree bay window called Cupola.

• Its in-orbit construction began in 1998. It has been occupied permanently since 2000. No other space station has been inhabited for longer.

• The clock on the Station ticks about0.0000000014% slower than an earthbound clock because of relativity, an effect predicted by Albert Einstein.

• More than 130 spaceflights and 170 spacewalks were conducted to build and maintain the Station.

• Unmannedvehiclesareusedtohaulsuppliesto the Space Station: the European ATV, Russia’s Progress vehicles, Japan’s HTV Transfer Vehicle, the US Dragon and soon to be joined by the Cygnus commercial spacecraft.

this human outpost in earth orbit is a stepping stone for further space exploration.

GPS antennas

Micrometeoroid and orbital debris protection system

8 payload racks to store equipment

Startracker

Docking system

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4 main engine nozzles

28 attitude control and braking thrusters

Solar arrays

Avionics equipment

Propellant tanks

Water and gas tanks

atv sections1 integrated Cargo Carrier Carries the entire resupply payload to the Station.

It can deliver dry and fluid cargo up to nearly 7 tonnes.

2 Avionics Module Accommodates the ‘brain’ of ATV critical items

such as its computers, gyroscopes, navigation and control systems, as well as power distribution and communications equipment.

3 Propulsion Module Reboosts and manoeuvres the Station to

avoid potential collisions with space debris. Its thrusters not only guide the spacecraft to the Station, but also when it departs at the end of the mission.

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rocketed into space• 4th launch on an Ariane 5 ES rocket

• Ariane 5 is 52 metres tall, equal to a 15-storey building

• When Ariane 5 lifts off the launch pad, it weighs over

760 tonnes, equal to around 500 cars

• Ariane 5 takes ATV into a 260 km circular orbit,

20 times higher than a passenger aircraft’s cruising altitude

• Albert Einstein himself could have fitted around

100 times into ATV’s pressurised module

cosmic automation• A startracker combined with a GPS receiver is the modern

equivalent of centuries-old navigation techniques

• ATV docks with the Space Station by hitting a target

60 cm wide with a precision of 6 cm while circling the Earth

at a speed of 28 000 km/h at an altitude of around 400 km

• Two astronauts monitor ATV as it approaches the Station

• ATV can operate with 4800 w generated by its four

solar wings, equivalent to the electricity used by a typical

water-heater

lift the Station• The International Space Station loses altitude by

50– 100 m each day

• ATV Johannes Kepler holds the record for the largest space

boost since the Apollo missions to the Moon:

40 km in one go

• Propulsion combo. ATV has 32 thrusters: 4 main engines

and 28 attitude control and braking thrusters

24-hour support centre• The ATV Control Centre is operated by a dedicated team

of 60 people

↑ Engineers test ATV Albert Einstein’s docking system in Kourou, French Guiana

↑ Ariane 5 launch with ATV Edoardo Amaldi lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana

↑ Station with ATV Johannes Kepler seen from Space Shuttle Discovery in 2011

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How does it benefit the space station?The 450-tonne orbiting complex relies on regular supplies to be fully operational. Since the American Space Shuttle retired in 2011 ATV has to deal with more dry cargo and last-minute requests. New payloads, research equipment and spare parts are on the shipping list.

All dry cargo, including food, experiments, tools and clothing, is packed into special bags with barcodes. The labelling makes it easy for crew to unpack the cargo in space and also makes it easier for the planners on Earth to keep track of the various items on the Station.

ATV’s tanks are filled with drinking water and gas for the astronauts (oxygen, nitrogen and air, depending on the Station’s needs). The crew can carry out several transfers of gas while ATV Albert Einstein is attached, releasing it into the Station’s atmosphere.

Storage tanks also carry ‘technical water’ for the operation of the Station systems. ATV can fill the Russian tanks with fuel to support propulsion manoeuvres.

a heavy load

Last-minute cargoEurope’s space freighter is upgraded every mission to be more flexible and adapt its cargo to the Station’s needs. ATV Albert Einstein improves its late cargo loading capability with a new Late Cargo Access Means, a special lift with a rotating platform. A new arm is capable of loading cargo bags up to 75 kg, three times more than was possible with the previous late access device.

The new platform allows each corner inside the pressurised module to be reached even after ATV is on its launcher. There is more room for last-minute items. The last packages can be loaded a few weeks before launch, including the crew care packages prepared for the astronauts by their families with personal gifts.

↑ NASA astronauts Cady Coleman and Scott Kelly in 2011 unpacking crew care packages from ATV Johannes Kepler

↓ The cargo team makes sure that each bag is stowed as efficiently and securely as possible

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FLUiD CArGo

3910 kg

ToTAL CArGo

6607 kg

Dry CArGo

2697 kg

Propulsive support 2380 kgrefuelling propellant 860 kgwater 570 kgGas 100 kg

Main dry cargo 1412 kgLate load dry cargo 1285 kg

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An immaculate ATv From the moment astronauts enter the spacecraft in orbit, ATV becomes a manned module. Following Space Station contamination requirements, a thorough disinfection of the pressurised module takes place prior launch.

Bacteria and fungi, mainly from human and environmental origin, are unwanted passengers on ATV Albert Einstein. In the Station’s humid atmosphere, microorganisms can easily prosper, leading to potential problems not only for the crew, but also for hardware on board. In the Mir station, for example, fungi colonised circuits, creating electrical shorts and endangering the crew.

ESA’s disinfection team cordon off an area of 5–10 metres around ATV Albert Einstein’s pressurised module. Dressed in sterilised white coats and armed with wipes and cotton swabs, the team disinfects ATV Albert Einstein before and after cargo is uploaded.

Disinfection and sampling are carried out not only inside the pressurised module, but also for every single item placed in ATV. In a laboratory, scientists assess the cleanliness – they analyse samples and look for remaining microbial contamination through DNA analysis. Air toxicity is checked to ensure astronauts breathe clean air when they open the hatch to ATV for the first time. Samples of air are analysed to confirm that no harmful chemicals were released in the atmosphere.The quality of around 560 litres of water from a spring in Italy is also carefully monitored.

After disinfection ATV Albert Einstein is left as close to sterile as possible. Hardly any microorganisms remain − the goal is to maintain a living environment with high levels of cleanliness. The whole process has synergies with hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry.

More living spaceAlthough no one travels in ATV Albert Einstein, astronauts in regular clothing can access the pressurised part when docked. During the six months ATV Albert Einstein will spend docked to the Station, it will act as a temporary habitable module, providing 45 m³ of extra crew working quarters on the orbiting outpost. On previous missions, ATV was welcomed by the astronauts as the quietest place in the Station’ and was often a favourite place to work.

Sampling ATV Albert Einstein contamination levels

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More space, more scienceATV Albert Einstein holds many useful items for the sake of science. Two ESA experiments that will receive valuable supplies are:

energyFood and urine collection kits will be delivered for this experiment, which studies how a negative energy balance observed during spaceflight could affect physiological functions. Data will contribute to planning adequate, but not excessive cargo supplies for food.

Materials science LaboratoryThis European facility allows the crew to heat and cool materials in microgravity. ATV will deliver a Sample Cartridge Assembly containing an aluminium alloy that will be subjected to temperatures of around 900°C. Back on Earth, scientists will analyse the samples and look at industrial applications of this alloy.

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The large freighter closes in on the Space Station in a step-by-step approach, going through more mission phases than most other spacecraft. With its own flight control and propulsion systems, ATV Albert Einstein manoeuvres autonomously during critical operations. If needed, the vehicle can also stay in free-flight for up to three weeks.

The flight-dynamics team at the ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC) in Toulouse, France, constantly checks space surveillance networks that track space debris. If any object risks hitting ATV Albert Einstein, a new

ATv Albert Einstein docks with the space station in a fully automated mode. The spacecraft is required to hit a target as small as a car wheel while both the ATv and the station orbit earth at about 28 000 km/h.

→ reachInG the tarGet

the path to the Station

trajectory is calculated automatically. During the free-flying phase, solar flares will not affect the robust software of the space vessel.

Automated Transfer Vehicles are very safe by design, and from an operational point of view. At least three safeguards ensure Station safety and its crew at all times. If any last-minute problems prevent the spacecraft from docking, its approach can be stopped by ATV’s computer, ground controllers or the astronauts on the Space Station.

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↑ ATV uses four optical sensors over the final 250 m prior to docking with the Station

↑ The plastic ‘range ruler’ in this photo is used to assess the distance of ATV from the Station during docking

↑ Thumbs up! Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and ESA astronaut André Kuipers celebrate the successful docking of ATV Edoardo Amaldi

↑ ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli removes the docking mechanism to access the ATV Johannes Kepler hatch

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atv critical mission phases

A matter of propulsionATV has the most complex propulsion system ever designed by Europe and flown in space. Its thrusters not only guide the spacecraft to the Space Station, but also push it away from the Station at the end of its mission. Once attached, the European vessel can perform attitude control and orbital reboosts for the Station, as well as enable manoeuvres to avoid potential collisions with space debris.

Maintaining the Station’s orbit is particularly vital during an expected period of high solar activity in 2013. Earth’s atmosphere becomes more dense causing larger drag on the International Space Station that ATV Albert Einstein can compensate by pushing it into higher orbits.

ATV’s propulsion system operates almost automatically, and some of its engines are used during the entire mission. It has a dry mass of 1.5 tonnes, consisting of 32 thrusters, 68 electric valves, 84 pressure sensors and nearly 200 temperature sensors and heaters.

Fueling ATV Albert Einstein’s engines requires a large amount of propellant – its main payload is more than three tonnes of fuel in different forms. Of all the vessels that deliver cargo to the Station, ATV can supply the largest quantity of fuel.

LaunchThe 760-tonne Ariane 5 launcher takes off from Kourou, French Guiana. The launch window is 15 days.

separation from launcherAbout one hour after launch, ATV Albert Einstein separates from the upper stage of the rocket. A high-precision navigation system guides the spacecraft on a rendezvous with the Space Station.

Free-flying phase While a startracker identifies constellations in the sky to calculate the vessel’s orientation, a GPS receiver allows it to calculate its position. The free-flight phase lasts a few days.

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propellantsPropulsive support (2380 kg) for:•Attitudecontrol•MaintainingtheStation’sorbit•Debrisavoidancemanoeuvres

refuelling propellant (860 kg) to restock the Station’s reserves, allowing it to perform its own attitude control and reboost when no visiting vehicle is available. This fuel is transferred to the Zarya module.

Pre-homingA precise sequence of engine burns takes ATV Albert Einstein to a hold point some 30 km from the Space Station, from where the spacecraft aligns itself and continues to the Station.

ClosingDuring the last 250 m, ATV’s state-of-the-art automatic rendezvous system employs its videometer’s eye-like sensors to calculate distance, velocity and attitude relative to the docking port on the Russian Zvezda module.

rendezvous and dockingThe 20-tonne ferry manoeuvres itself and docks with the International Space Station in roughly three and a half hours with a precision of better than 6 cm.

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→ teaM SpIrIt

Just two months after the end of the ATV Edoardo Amaldi mission, staff at ATV-CC started to get ready to operate a new spacecraft. The control centre is located on the premises of the French space agency CNES in Toulouse, France. It is responsible for directing in-flight operations and coordinating ground resources. Many people from ESA and European industry work on ATV, with EADS Astrium being the prime contractor for the production of the vehicle.

atv ground support

ATv navigates, flies and docks with the station automatically, but it does requires some ground support. Throughout its mission, ATv Albert einstein is monitored and commanded from the ATv Control Centre (ATv-CC), which works day and night in close coordination with the other control centres in russia and the Us.

Launch siteKourou, French Guiana

nAsA Mission Control Center Houston, United States

ATv Control Centre Toulouse, France

russian Mission Control Centre Korolev, Russia

During an ATV flight – from launch to docking, and from undocking to reentry – a dedicated 60-person team works together to control all procedures. Over 5000 commands can be sent to ATV which, in turn, can transmit up to 35 000 telemetry parameters. Such a flow of information requires multiple telecommunications systems and constant communication between ATV-CC, the mission control centres in Houston and Moscow, and the International Space Station itself.

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atv is the only vehicle to visit the International Space Station that is truly operated trilaterally. coordinating this is not easy, but it is something unique in regards to the Space Station and an honour for all of us. with complex projects like atv, you automatically build a strong team culture beyond borders. I am continuously amazed at how motivated this team is.

Alberto Novelli, ATV-4 Mission Manager

the atv project has allowed us to develop common approaches to design, build and control this complex space vehicle. the priceless experience of close cooperation between different engineering cultures and teams proves the feasibility of joint advanced projects on human space exploration.

Vladimir DaneevATV Programme Manager, RSC-Energia

the trilateral nature of this vehicle − three different agencies, three different cultural backgrounds − makes you look at issues from three independent angles. you learn to lose preconceptions, and at the same time you are given more options for alternative solutions. It keeps you open-minded.

Jerry Jason, ATV-4 NASA Lead Flight Director

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as a biologist, I was very impressed the first time I saw atv in the cleanroom. the nice atmosphere in the team makes the launch campaigns a pleasure. our opinion as experts is always taken into consideration.

Stephanie RaffestinMicrobiologist

we assure that all atv systems perform as intended, ensuring a successful mission. we get to know every piece of the spacecraft. I love seeing atv grow from nothing and flying to space as the complex vehicle it is. when it comes to finding a solution, it is a team collaboration involving experts not only from eSa but european industry and Space Station partners.

Sonia FerrerProduct Assurance and Safety engineer

I have been involved in the atv project for years. atv is part of me, I cannot switch off. our team is the first to deal with problems and look for solutions. we work by the book, double-checking every procedure. the pressure is higher when the spacecraft is on its way to space − any anomaly has to be fixed quickly.

Eric Joseph-GabrielAvionics Integrated Verification engineer

there is something special about the atv team. when I first joined, someone told me ‘this is the best team I ever worked with’, and I can say now that it was not a cliché. there is a great sense of cooperation, and it is very rewarding to be directly involved with the Space Station partners, collaborating on this wonderful adventure together.

Adam WilliamsOperations Training and Simulation manager

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→ end oF MISSIon

While attached to the Station, astronauts gradually remove cargo from ATV and fill it with liquid and dry waste and to clear space in the Station. Once all the cargo is transferred and the reboosts are completed, ATV Albert Einstein is ready to leave.

The return flight starts by ‘waking up’ ATV avionics and flight-control systems. After the crew seals the hatches,

power and data cables are disconnected and a ground-to-space command is sent to undock ATV Albert Einstein.

A thruster-burn pushes ATV Albert Einstein back and away from the Station. In about 24 hours its engines deorbit the spacecraft on a steep flight-path to break apart and burn up harmlessly over an uninhabited area of the southern Pacific Ocean.

waste disposal

ATv Albert Einstein remains a pressurised part of the international space station for up to six months. once its resupply mission is complete, the european vehicle leaves with up to six tonnes of station waste. ATv Albert Einstein’s last journey will be a controlled and destructive reentry into earth’s atmosphere in Autumn 2013.

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→ what next?

atv Georges Lemaître

The last spacecraft in ESA’s family of Automated Transfer Vehicles is named after the Belgian astronomer and cosmologist Georges Lemaître.

He discovered a family of solutions to Einstein’s relativity equations describing an expanding Universe rather than a static one, and provided a first observational estimation of the Hubble constant. His theory later became better known as the Big Bang theory.

ATV Georges Lemaître, set to fly in 2014, could help develop tools for a rendezvous with a non-cooperative object such as space debris or an asteroid. The spacecraft may serve as a testbed for a suite of optical-sensor prototypes to home in on targets, based on a long-range infrared camera and a short-range 3D imaging sensor.

a Belgian genius and the beginning of time

When Georges Lemaître was born in 1894 in Charleroi, Belgium, most scientists thought that the Universe was infinite in age and constant in its general appearance. The astronomer, professor of physics and Catholic priest suggested that the world had a definite beginning in which all matter and energy were concentrated in one point. The theory of the Big Bang was born.

Georges Lemaître continued to advance science throughout his life. He studied cosmic rays and worked on the three-body problem concerning the motion of three mutually-attracted bodies in space. He died in Louvain, Belgium, in 1966, at the age of 71.

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looking to the future

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ESA's service module

NASA's Orion spacecraft

ATV will have a second life after it completes its resupply role to the International Space Station. ESA is studying ways of developing its successor, an ATV-derived service module to support NASA’s concept Orion spacecraft. This vehicle will carry astronauts further into space than ever before.

Providing this service module will be ESA’s remaining contribution to the Space Station partnership. Through this in-kind contribution, ESA opens a new page of international cooperation for human exploration beyond orbit in the coming decades.

This will be the first collaboration between ESA and NASA on a crew transportation vehicle. The spacecraft will build on the heritage of ATV-derived technology, capitalising on Europe’s demonstrated reliability as a space programme partner. The project will create highly skilled jobs in an innovative sector ensuring future space endeavours.

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an eSa human Spaceflight and operations productionCopyright © 2013 European Space Agency

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