The UK's Royal Aeronautical Society has awarded its top Gold Medal Team prize to ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle operations team, in recognition of their achievement in operating ATV Jules Verne during its 2008 mission to the International Space Station.The Gold Medal is conferred for work of outstanding achievement in aerospace.
ATV Jules Verne, ESA's first resupply and reboost vehicle, was launched in March 2008 and on 3 April became the first vessel to perform a fully automated docking with the International Space Station (ISS).
During the vessel's five-month attached phase, Jules Verne delivered over 2200 kg of vital cargo, including food, clothes, equipment, fuel, water and oxygen, to the astronauts on the ISS.
The extremely accurate automated docking demonstrated Europe's world-class industrial capabilities and the superlative skill of the scientists, engineers and technicians who contributed to the construction, preparation, launch and operation.
"I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of the Agency and everyone across borders and organisations who worked long and hard to make ATV an outstanding success. The ATV's design and construction, the superb automated docking technology and her flawless first mission all tell a truly European success story," said Bob Chesson, Head of ESA's Human Spaceflight Operations Department.
In flight, ATV operations are managed by a combined ESA/CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales) mission operations team based at ESA’s ATV Control Centre, Toulouse, France. These experts are assisted by a network of support teams from ESA's Human Spaceflight, Operations and Technology Directorates, at CNES, and at dozens of industrial partner companies from 10 European countries under the prime contractorship of EADS Space Transportation, France.
The extremely accurate automated docking demonstrated Europe's world-class industrial capabilities and the superlative skill of the scientists, engineers and technicians who contributed to the construction, preparation, launch and operation.
"I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of the Agency and everyone across borders and organisations who worked long and hard to make ATV an outstanding success. The ATV's design and construction, the superb automated docking technology and her flawless first mission all tell a truly European success story," said Bob Chesson, Head of ESA's Human Spaceflight Operations Department.
In flight, ATV operations are managed by a combined ESA/CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales) mission operations team based at ESA’s ATV Control Centre, Toulouse, France. These experts are assisted by a network of support teams from ESA's Human Spaceflight, Operations and Technology Directorates, at CNES, and at dozens of industrial partner companies from 10 European countries under the prime contractorship of EADS Space Transportation, France.
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