Updates ESA's ATV-3 "Edoardo Amaldi"

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ESA: Follow the docking of ATV-3:

{...} Streaming will start at approximately 00:00 CEST (22:00 GMT).

SPACE.com: European Cargo Ship to Dock at Space Station Today

 

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NASASpaceflight: ATV-3 set to dock to ISS – minor antenna deployment issue now resolved, article by Orbinaut Pete

Florida Today: European resupply ship nears International Space Station

DLR Blogs:

• ATV-3 docking tonight – live blog from the control centre in Toulouse
  
  
• Timeline for ATV-3 docking
  
  
• ATV docking process – from ‘first contact’ to electrical and data hook-ups

 

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An hour away from the docking.


Spaceflight Now:

• Autopilot in orbit: How does ATV reach the space station?
  
  
• ATV 3 docking timeline
  
  
• Mission Status Center:

  Now positioned at a hold point approximately 280 meters, or 918 feet, from the space station, the Automated Transfer Vehicle has arrived at the S3 hold point in today's rendezvous profile.

 

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The capture occurred at 22:31:17 UTC / 6:31:17 p.m. EDT.


DLR Blogs: And here we continue...

SPACE.com: European Robot Cargo Ship Docks at Space Station

 

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ESA:
Europe’s third cargo vehicle docks with the Space Station

29 March 2012

PR 10 2012 - ESA’s ATV Edoardo Amaldi has completed the first stage of its docking with the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station.

The docking occurred smoothly when ATV’s docking probe was captured by Zvezda’s docking cone at 00:31 CEST ( 22:31 GMT).

Click on image to enlarge​

Video still of ATV Edoardo Amaldi docking with the International Space Station. The image is taken from the same video that is used by astronauts and the ATV Control Centre to monitor the approach.

Credits: ESA/NASA​

The docking probe is now retracting, to be followed by the hooks between the two craft closing. The data and electrical connections will then be established.

The 20-tonne vessel, flying autonomously while being continuously monitored from the ground, docked with the 450-tonne orbital complex with a precision of 6 cm as they circled Earth at more than 28 000 km/hr.

“No-one should consider that this smooth and gentle docking between these two giant spacecraft is either an easy or routine task,” said Thomas Reiter, ESA’s Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations.

“The technologies we have demonstrated in operational conditions with the ATVs have a tremendous potential for future human spaceflight and exploration missions.”

Click on image to enlarge​

An Automated Transfer Vehicle docking with the International Space Station.

Credits: ESA - D.Ducros​

The docking concluded a step-by-step approach to the orbital outpost by the large freighter. The vehicle manoeuvred autonomously during these critical operations, monitored by a separate onboard control system to ensure the safety of the Station and its crew.

The ground teams at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse as well as ESA astronaut André Kuipers and his crewmates on the Station were also watching the approach, in case a hold or an abort had to be ordered.

Like its predecessors, ATV-3 has a multifaceted mission. As a space tug, it is loaded with 3150 kg of propellant to reboost the Station’s orbit to compensate for the natural decay in altitude caused by atmospheric drag or to move it from the path of potentially hazardous space debris. ATV also provides attitude control when other spacecraft are approaching the Station.

Click on image to enlarge​

The ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France, monitoring ATV Jules Verne leaving the International Space Station

 ​

The Automated Transfer Vehicle undocked from the aft port of the Zvezda module at 21:29 GMT on 5 September 2008 and was placed in a parking orbit for three weeks, scheduled to be deorbited on 29 September when lighting conditions were correct for ESA imaging of reentry.

Credits: ESA​

As a space tanker, it is delivering 860 kg of propellant, 100 kg of oxygen and air, and 280 kg of drinking water, all to be pumped into the Station’s tanks.

As a space freighter, it carries 2200 kg of dry cargo such as scientific equipment, spare parts, food and clothes for the astronauts.

During the five months it will spend docked to the Station, it will act as a temporary space module, providing 45 cubic metres of extra crew quarters on the orbital outpost. On previous missions, ATV was welcomed by the astronauts as “the quietest place in the Station” and was often the preferred area for working.

Click on image to enlarge​

ESA astronaut André Kuipers and cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko training on the International Space Station for the docking of Automated Transfer Vehicle Edoardo Amaldi.

Credits: ESA/NASA​

At the end of its mission, scheduled for 27 August, ATV-3 will separate from the Station, packed with waste bags. The following day, it will be directed to burn up safely in the atmosphere during reentry over the South Pacific Ocean.

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Video replay of the docking:

DLR: New 'room' for the ISS - ATV-3 now docked

Florida Today: Robotic European carrier docks at ISS

Aviation Week: Europe's ATV-3 Docks with International Space Station

RIA Novosti: European Unmanned ATV-3 Cargo Carrier Docks with ISS

Spaceflight Now: Huge orbital freighter arrives to resupply space station

 

[N_Molson]

Well done people ! Reliability and efficiency ! :thumbup:

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 29/03/2012.

After reviewing an OBT (Onboard Training) drill covering ATV APO (Attached Phase Operations) procedures to refresh their proficiency, Oleg Kononenko & Andre Kuipers after their lunch break:

• Conducted the one-hour leak check on the SM PrK (Transfer Tunnel)/ATV vestibule,
• Opened the PrK-SU (Vestibule) transfer hatch on TsUP-Moscow Go,
• Set up the POTOK Air Purification Unit of the SOGS Air Revitalization Subsystem in the PrK and powered it up,
• Opened the ATV transfer hatch on TsUP-Moscow Go, and
• Installed the BZV quick release screw clamps of the SSVP docking mechanism, and ingressed ATV (wearing dust respirator & vacuum cleaner).

After the hatch opening, Ivanishin sampled the air with the Russian AK-1M and Draeger IPD-CO sampling equipment.

 

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Uh-oh...

Spaceflight Now:

• Mission Status Center:

  FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2012The crew aboard the International Space Station has opened hatches leading to a newly-arrived European cargo craft, but engineers on the ground are drafting contingency plans to end the resupply mission early if they are unable to fix an electrical system glitch.
  
  Engineers at the cargo ship's control center in Toulouse, France, reported the failure of one of two redundant Russian Equipment Control System channels that route station power to the Automated Transfer Vehicle, according to a NASA update issued Friday.
  
  A backup power channel passed in initial test Friday, but it has not yet been connected to the space station electrical system, the update said.
  
  If engineers are unable to route the space station's power supply to the ATV, the freighter's own solar panels are unable to generate sufficient electricity due to unfavorable sun angles, according to European Space Agency controllers.
  
  The Automated Transfer Vehicle, christened Edoardo Amaldi after an Italian physicist and space pioneer, needs access to the space station's power supply to stay at the complex.
  
  The bus-sized spacecraft, which docked to the space station Wednesday, may have to depart the complex early if the lab's power cannot be extended to the ATV. Current schedules call for the freighter to remain at the space station until at least late August.
  
  "While it is highly unlikely, the situation could lead to an earlier than planned undocking of ATV 3," the NASA update said. "NASA, ESA and Russian space agency experts are working together on contingency plans to try to extend power to the ATV 3. The multinational team is drafting a plan for the unloading of critical cargo if a worst-case scenario should lead to an expedited undocking."
  
  Controllers plan to fire the ATV's thrusters Saturday to reboost the space station's orbit by about two miles.
  
  But the reboost will be cancelled if the power issue is not resolved by Saturday morning.
  
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• PHOTOS and VIDEO: Edoardo Amaldi reaches the International Space Station

CBS News Space: Engineers troubleshoot station-to-cargo module power glitch

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Uh-oh...

Spaceflight Now:

• Mission Status Center:
  
  
• PHOTOS and VIDEO: Edoardo Amaldi reaches the International Space Station

CBS News Space: Engineers troubleshoot station-to-cargo module power glitch

Hmm... doesn't look too bad at this point...

On 30 March, the command path to one (of four) RICU units (the Russian Systems Interface Unit – these are electrical interface boxes between the ISS and ATV) failed. The ATV’s failure detection, isolation and recovery function switched off, as foreseen, the ATV’s Russian avionics Chain 1.

ATV functions continued nominally with the ATV’s own autonomous power supply. In the meantime, the second chain, Chain 2, was successfully used to take over the lost command path.

ATV operations to re-boost the ISS later today, set for 18:05 & 23:45 GMT, will be performed as planned.

The loss of one out four redundant functions is not considered critical and re-integration of the lost command path is under investigation.

 

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Aviation Week: Mission Saving Russian Power Flows to Europe's ATV-3; Station Re-boost Set:

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station, working with flight control teams, connected a backup Russian electrical supply source to the European Space Agency's recently arrived Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 on Saturday afternoon, easing concerns the unpowered freighter might have to be jettisoned on Monday afternoon.

Electricity began to flow to the freighter from the station's Russian segment Equipment Control System, or RECS, shortly after 1 p.m., EST.

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ESA: Busy first days for ATV Edoardo Amaldi

Aviation Week: Explanation Sought For ATV-3 Power Problems

 

[IronRain]

Video of the boost by Don Pettit:

http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/letters/posts/post_1333489321499.html

 

[IronRain]

Tour of ATV-3 from the International Space Station

 

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NASASpaceflight: ATV-3 raises the ISS to nearly 400km via a reboost – Power Loss Latest, by Orbinaut Pete

 

[IronRain]

ESA blog: ATV-3 makes first water delivery to ISS

 

[IronRain]

ESA blog: Learn to dock ATV the astronaut way

 

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NASA News Release:
MEDIA ADVISORY : M12-181
Coverage Set for Space Station Departure of European Cargo Ship

Sept. 18, 2012

WASHINGTON -- The departure of the third European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-3) cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station will be broadcast live on NASA Television beginning at 6:15 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 25.

The 13-ton "Edoardo Amaldi," named for the 20th-century Italian physicist regarded as one of the fathers of European spaceflight, launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on March 23. It arrived at the space station March 28 with several tons of supplies and experiments for the station's crew.

Now loaded with items no longer needed on the station, ATV-3 will undock from the aft docking port of the station's Russian Zvezda service module at 6:35 p.m., Sept. 25. The craft will back away from the orbiting laboratory to a safe distance for an engine firing that will enable it to make a planned destructive return through Earth's atmosphere.

ATV-3 will carry the Re-entry Breakup Recorder (REBR) as it descends into Earth's atmosphere. REBR is a system that records data during the re-entry and breakup of the vehicle and returns the data for analysis. Understanding how vehicles behave during re-entry can enhance design efficiencies and safety; potentially remove the need for deorbit propulsion, which could decrease cost and complexity and increase mission life of spacecraft; and could minimize hazards to people and property if spacecraft became uncontrollable and re-entered randomly.

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ESA: So long… and thanks for all the oxygen:

20 September 2012

ESA’s ATV Edoardo Amaldi’s time is near. Next week the spacecraft will undock from the International Space Station and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, its hugely successful mission coming to an end six months after launch.

ATV Edoardo Amaldi will undock during the night of 25/26 September, and, just 24 hours later, will be commanded to perform a controlled destructive re-entry high over an uninhabited area of the South Pacific.

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ESA: ATV-3 set for overnight undocking:

25 September 2012

ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle Edoardo Amaldi is set to undock from the International Space Station tonight at 22:35 GMT (00:35 CEST).

Mission controllers will steer ATV-3 during 28 hours of free flight, ending with a controlled destructive reentry during the night of 26/27 September.

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