ESA ATV-4 docked to ISS Zvezda Module: Ready for Action

ATV-4 docked to Zvezda.

Albert Einstein, ESA’s unmanned cargo ferry at the International Space Station, will start pumping propellants today into the orbital outpost. 

This will be followed by air and oxygen transfers before it resumes boosting the Station’s orbit.

ATV-4 is the fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle to serve the Station; it was launched on 5 June and reached the complex nine days later. Since then, this European cargo carrier has been firmly attached to the Station, acting as an additional module.

All 2489 kg of dry cargo has now been carried into the Station and the crew has already loaded 1213 kg of waste into ATV.

Around two more tonnes of unused equipment, rubbish and other material will be packed into the vehicle before it completes its mission in spectacular fashion as a cosmic rubbish removal van in late October, burning up safely as it reenters the atmosphere.

So far, ATV’s mission has been quiet, as everything goes according to plan. “We like having this kind of mission,” says Jean-Michel Bois, Head of the ESA Operations Team at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France.

“Of course, there have been small issues – there always are – but they keep us on our toes. Everything is in a great state and ATV is working beautifully.”

The 60-strong team from ESA, France’s CNES space agency and industry at the control centre constantly monitor ATV’s health and they are always ready for unscheduled actions, like avoiding orbital debris by changing the Station’s orbit with ATV’s powerful engines.

Albert Einstein has already preformed a major planned reboost, using 200 kg of propellant and raising the Station’s orbit by about 10 km.

The only significant unplanned event came last week, when one of ATV’s three computers was automatically shut down by onboard software.

Then a second computer failed on Sunday – not a problem as ATV can operate fine with just one unit.

Even so, critical activities require all computers to be working normally so some of the Toulouse centre’s key personnel cut their holidays short to tackle the problem.

With this additional help, the two computers were soon restarted. ATV was then ready to go ahead with preparations for the propellant transfer.

The ESA ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France.

The fuel pipes were pressurised on 31 July, leaving ATV ready to pump 860 kg of fuel and oxidiser into the tanks of Zarya module on Thursday afternoon.

All of the available propellants will be transferred during the 1.5-hour operation, after which the pipes will be purged and evacuated to avoid any problems when ATV undocks.

Then air and oxygen will flow into the Station on 12 and 13 August. ATV-4 holds 66.3 kg of air and 33.3 kg of pure oxygen for the crew. It also arrived with 564 kg of water in its tanks, 23% of which has already been pumped into the Station’s tanks.

On 14 August, ATV will light up its engines for another orbit reboost, followed by another on 28 August.

According to planning, ATV will undock and head for the fiery end to its mission on 28 October.

ESA ATV-4: Mold Concerns Delay Space Station Cargo Ship's Opening

An Expedition 36 crew member captured this view of the interior of the Automated Transfer Vehicle-4 after the hatch was opened on Tuesday. CREDIT: NASA TV

The ATV-4 Albert Einstein, ESA's robotic cargo ship, was opened Tuesday morning (June 18) at the International Space Station, a day late because of concerns that mold may have grown inside the vehicle, NASA officials said.

The unmanned Einstein spacecraft docked at the space station Saturday (June 15), but it was not opened Monday as planned due to worries that the vehicle and its cargo had not been disinfected properly before launch.

The opening of the spacecraft's hatch was moved back a day to allow the space station partner nations to discuss the situation; ultimately, the partners agreed to have the station crew disinfect 21 bags of cargo on the spaceship to ensure they were clean of mold.

Whether or not any mold actually grew on the robotic spacecraft is unclear. The concerns may have arisen because Russian space agency officials were dissatisfied with the decontamination procedures European engineers took to prepare the vehicle for flight, a European Space Agency official told reporters.

Furthermore, the Russian concerns might have been focused on the documentation of the decontamination procedures rather than flaws in the procedures themselves, according to news reporters.

"It's a well-established principle of spaceflight safety that, under uncertainty, you don't 'assume the best,' you make sure the worst cannot be true," Oberg said, according to news reporters .

"And if you're not sure you decontaminated these items to rigorous standards, then you do it again, to make sure."



Tiny lifeforms aren't unheard of on the space station — in fact, they're often launched there on purpose for scientific experiments.

One study on the International Space Station between 2006 and 2008, for instance, found that Salmonella bacteria grown there in microgravity were more virulent than their counterparts on Earth.

The Albert Einstein spacecraft, also known as the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)-4, is making the second-to-last of five unmanned cargo delivery flights to the station planned by the European Space Agency.

The spaceship, about the size of a London double-decker bus, was packed with food for the crew, science equipment and spare parts for the orbiting laboratory. It lifted off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana June 5.

Like the other ATV ships, Albert Einstein is disposable; it will burn up on purpose in Earth's atmosphere after leaving the station.

ESA ATV-4 Albert Einstein Docks with ISS

ESA's ATV-4 (Albert Einstein), a robotic freighter bearing 6.6 tonnes of cargo docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.

The fourth of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs) berthed with the ISS 10 days after being launched by Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, it said.

The resupply ship, named after Albert Einstein, is laden with food, water, oxygen, science experiments and special treats for the ISS astronauts.

It made contact with the ISS at 1407 GMT, the ESA said, about 20 minutes later than originally expected.

The robot space freighter is the size of a double-decker bus—10 metres (33 feet) long and 4.5 metres (15 feet) in diameter.

It is designed to find its way automatically to the ISS, navigating by starlight and using its onboard thrusters to gently dock with the manned orbital outpost.

ESA is contracted to build five ATVs as part of its contribution to the US-led ISS project.

During its four-month mission, the ATV will act as a store room and additional living quarters for the ISS.

It will also use its thrusters to boost the station, which is in low Earth orbit and loses altitude because of lingering atmospheric friction, to higher altitudes.

The ATV is set to undock in October filled with about six tonnes of garbage and human waste, and burn up over the Pacific.

ESA Ariane-5 Launch picture

Arianespace's unmanned Ariane 5 rocket, carrying the automated transfer vehicle (ATV) Albert Einstein in French Guiana. 

The ATV will resupply the International Space Station with 14,500 pounds of propellant, food, experiments, water and oxygen

Picture: Getty Images

ESA ATV-4: European cargo freighter Albert Einstein separates from Ariane-5 launcher

Europe's heaviest-ever cargo carrier to the International Space Station successfully separated from its rocket launcher an hour after liftoff on Wednesday to start a 10-day journey to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Albert Einstein was rocketed into space from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 launcher at 6:52:11 pm local time (21:52:11 GMT).

It separated as planned on reaching an altitude of 260 kilometres (160 miles).

"ATV Albert Einstein has separated from our launcher," Stephane Israel, chief executive of satellite launch firm Arianespace announced at the control centre in Kourou.

The ATV-4 is ferrying a record cargo of 6.6 tonnes to the ISS—food, fuel, water, oxygen, science experiments and special treats for the orbiting crew.

The robot freighter must now deploy its four energy-generating solar panels to start its autonomous navigation, guided by starlight, to the space station.

It is set to dock with the ISS on June 15 at an altitude of 400 kilometres (250 miles) above the planet—at a speed of some 28,000 kilometres (18,000 miles) per hour.

ESA ATV-4 Launch Peanut butter, pyjamas, parmesan to Space Station

European Space Agency's Ariane 5 rocket blasts off from Kourou in French Guiana on June 5, 2013. 

A special delivery of peanut butter, pyjamas and parmesan cheese was blasted into the cosmos to bring some Earthly indulgences to the astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS).

A special delivery of peanut butter, pyjamas and parmesan cheese was blasted into the cosmos to bring some Earthly indulgences to the astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS).

The items were in a cargo capsule launched Wednesday on the European Space Agency's Ariane 5 rocket to bring creature comforts like family photos and sweet treats to the six-person crew, but also bare essentials like oxygen, food and drinking water.

Perhaps the most anticipated among the record 1,400 items launched on the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) are the care packages put together for each of the astronauts with favourites they had requested and little surprises from home.

"It's quite small, but you can actually fit quite a lot in there," ATV cargo engineer Kerstin MacDonnell of the agency's ESTEC research centre told AFP of the bread bin-sized container each crew member would receive.

"Some birthday cards or drawings from their children, or if one of them has a craving for chewing gum or beef jerky or whatever kind of thing they like," she said.

"For the most part it's just comfort things that would help the morale—personal items and mementos from the family."

MacDonnell oversaw the loading of the ATV Albert Einstein, ESA's fourth and penultimate cargo freighter to the ISS, launched from Kourou in French Guiana.

The unmanned vessel is set to dock with the ISS on June 15 at an altitude of about 400 kilometres (250 miles) above the planet—at a speed of some 28,000 kilometres (18,000 miles) per hour.

Image provided by Arianespace on January 1, 2013 shows the ATV Albert Einstein at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. 

Among the ATV's record dry cargo load of 2.5 tonnes were day-to-day necessities like printer paper, tools, toothbrushes and socks.

ESA Ariane-5 with ATV-4 Albert Einstein on board, successful launch

The ATV-4 "Albert Einstein" Automated Transfer Vehicle launches atop an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana on June 5, 2013.

ATV-4 is the penultimate ATV of the present range, to be built and launched by ESA.

CREDIT: NASA TV

The European Space Agency launched its penultimate mission to the International Space Station on Wednesday (June 5), expending great energy to lift a record amount of mass aboard a spacecraft named for the scientist famous for equating the two quantities with the expression "E=mc^2."

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Automated Transfer Vehicle-4 (ATV-4), an unmanned cargo freighter, lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 5:52 p.m. EDT (2152 GMT).

The second to last of ESA's five planned station resupply spacecraft launched since 2008, ATV-4 was named "Albert Einstein" after the iconic physicist known for the theory of relativity

ATV-4 is the first spaceship to bear Einstein's name, at the suggestion of the Swiss delegation to the European Space Agency. Einstein was born in Germany but studied and spent his early career in Switzerland.

Lifting off from Kourou, the jungle spaceport along South America's northeast coast, ATV-4 soared spaceward with Europe's largest-ever load of dry cargo for the station.

Packed with science experiments, crew supplies, a 3D printed tool box and even copies of Einstein's manuscript explaining the foundation for the general theory of relativity, the craft is destined to dock with the orbiting laboratory on June 15.

ESA Ariane 5 VA 213 with ATV-4 on board

Ariane 5 VA 213 during transfer from the BAF (Final Assembly Building) to the launch pad, 4 June, 2013.

ESA’s fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, Albert Einstein, is ready for launch on an Ariane 5 to the International Space Station on 5 June, 2013, from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Liftoff is set for 23:52 CEST (21:52 GMT), and three hours and four minutes later the vessel will separate from the launcher to begin ten days of health checks and orbital manoeuvres, bringing it to an automated docking with the Station on 15 June, 2013.

For more images, please click here.

Credits: ESA–S. Corvaja, 2013

Europe's ATV-4 ready to deliver essential cargo to Space Station

ESA’s fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, Albert Einstein, is ready for launch on an Ariane 5 to the International Space Station on 5 June from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Liftoff is set for 23:52 CEST (21:52 GMT), and three hours and four minutes later the vessel will separate from the launcher to begin ten days of health checks and orbital manoeuvres, bringing it to an automated docking with the Station on 15 June.

ATV Albert Einstein, named after the scientist most famous for developing the theory of relativity, will deliver essential supplies and reboost the Station’s altitude during its planned five-month stay in orbit.

With a launch mass of 20 235 kg, it is the heaviest spacecraft ever launched by Europe, and it is carrying the largest load of dry cargo yet to be ferried by any ATV.

The spacecraft is four vehicles in one, bringing equipment and supplies, replenishing the Station’s propellant tanks, keeping the orbital outpost aloft with its boosts, and providing a module for the astronauts to live in.

ESA set for record-breaking Ariane 5 ES launch carrying ATV-4

Nearly 40 years ago, European countries worried by US and Soviet dominance of space gave the green light to the first Arianespace rocket, a small launcher capable of hoisting a satellite payload of just 1.8 tonnes—the equivalent mass of two small cars.

On Wednesday, the fifth and mightiest generation of Arianes is set to take a whopping 20.2 tonnes into orbit, a cargo craft the size of a double-decker bus and a record for Europe, proud engineers say.

The payload is the fourth cargo delivery by the European Space Agency (ESA) to the International Space Station (ISS), bringing food, water, oxygen, scientific experiments and special treats to the orbiting crew.

An Ariane 5 ES is scheduled to blast off from ESA's base at Kourou in French Guiana at 6:52 pm (2152 GMT) Wednesday, taking aloft an Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-4), a robot space truck dubbed the Albert Einstein.

Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-4)

The cargo craft will carry almost seven tonnes of dry and fluid cargo for its five-month mission.

About an hour after liftoff, somewhere over New Zealand, the ATV, some 10 metres (33 feet) long, will detach from the rocket's upper stage and then deploy its four energy-generating solar panels and navigate autonomously, guided by starlight, to the space station.

It will dock with the ISS on July 15 at an altitude of about 400 kilometres (250 miles) above the planet.

Bart Reijnen

"By then it has a velocity of 28,000 kilometres (18,000 miles) per hour, and has to fly to a destination (the docking mechanism) about 60 cm (23 inches) in width," said Bart Reijnen, head of orbital systems at the EADS corporation's Astrium space company which built the lifeline craft.

"It has to fly there fully autonomously and dock with this target of 60 cm with a precision of six cm (2.4 inches). That is something that might be difficult to imagine."

The craft has enough fuel to make three docking attempts if something were to go wrong during the final approach, said Jean-Michel Bois, ATV operations manager in Toulouse, France, from where the vessel's flight path will be monitored.

In the case of a failed attempt, the ATV would retreat from the ISS and go into a different orbit, returning two days later to try again.

This has never happened, said Bois, adding: "I cross my fingers."

The Albert Einstein will boast the largest assortment of goods yet delivered to the ISS—a total of 1,400 individual items that include everything from pyjamas and toothbrushes to peanut butter, lasagne and tiramisu for its six astronauts.

Apart from several months' worth of food, the craft carries 4.8 tonnes of fuel needed to dock with the ISS and give it a boost into higher orbit with its onboard engines.

This is necessary because the ISS is in a low Earth orbit and encounters atmospheric resistance which causes it to fall towards our planet at a rate of about 100m (300 feet) per day.

ATVs can also push the ISS out of the way of oncoming space debris.

ESA is contracted to provide five ATVs as its contribution to the ISS, a US-led international collaboration.

ESA's ATV-4 Mission Manager Alberto Novelli (right) sitting with Astrium's ATV Programme Manager Gilles Debas (left) in the Jupiter control room at Kourou on 29 May 2013 during the dress rehearsal for ATV-4 launch.

The three previous missions have performed flawlessly, muting criticism of the billion-euro ($1.3-billion) development cost.

The Albert Einstein will carry 800 kg (1,760 pounds) of propellant to be pumped into the ISS itself, as well as more than 500 kilos (1,100 pounds) of water and 100 kilos of oxygen, according to Astrium.

And it will bring a scientific experiment designed to test the behaviour of emulsions—a mixture of liquids that do not blend, like mayonnaise—in weightless conditions.

The ATV's pressurised cabin will provide welcome extra space for the ISS crew—Americans Chris Cassidy and Karen Nyberg, Russians Fyodor Yurchikhin, Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin, and Italian Luca Parmitano.

After completing its mission, the ATV-4 will undock from the ISS filled with about six tonnes of garbage and human waste, and burn up over the Pacific.

ESA ATV-4: Albert Einstein set to Launch June 2013

ESA's space freighter ATV Albert Einstein will be the heaviest spacecraft ever launched into space by an Ariane rocket when it lifts off to the International Space Station on 5 June.

Albert Einstein is the fourth in the five-vessel Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)-series of space cargo freighters and is undergoing final integration and cargo loading at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou.

It will launch on board an Ariane 5 ES launcher, delivering over 2500 kg of dry cargo to the International Space Station. It will also haul fuel, water, and oxygen to space, as well as carrying its own fuel to reboost the Station's orbit.

The total mass of ATV Albert Einstein with all its cargo is 20 235 kg, making this spacecraft the heaviest ever lofted into orbit by an Ariane rocket, beating the previous Ariane launch record by over 500 kg set last year by its predecessor ATV Edoardo Amaldi.

Most diverse cargo ever 
"ATV-4 is carrying the most diverse-ever cargo mix – around 1400 different items – ranging from food, spare parts, crew supplies and clothing to scientific experiments and other vital items," says Alberto Novelli, ATV-4 mission manager.

Alberto Novelli

"Launch is scheduled for 5 June on Ariane flight VA213, which would line us up for docking with the International Space Station on 15 June."

Teams from ESA, Arianespace and Astrium, the vessel's builder, have been working at Kourou on an intense pre-launch campaign that began the moment the two halves of ATV vessel arrived in French Guiana last September.

The spacecraft has been checked out, the two halves joined into one and fuelling is underway. ATV Albert Einstein will be hoisted to the top of its Ariane launcher in May.

Late-load cargo can be added just two weeks before launch, this year, around 620 kg of ‘last-minute’ items are expected to be shipped to the Space Station.

Charlotte Beskow

"Late loading offers flexible options to our partners to include critical items needed on the Space Station closer to the actual launch date" says Charlotte Beskow ESA's acting launch campaign manager in Kourou.

In parallel, the joint ESA/French space agency (CNES) flight control team at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France has been doing intensive training and simulations for the mission's flight phases.

Farewell to ESA's ATV-3 Edoardo Amaldi: Greetings to ATV-4 Albert Einstein

ATV Albert Einstein arriving by boat at Europe’s Spaceport, in Kourou, French Guiana on 19 September 2012.

It is scheduled for launch to the International Space Station in April 2013.

Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Video du CSG

ESA's third Automated Transfer Vehicle Edoardo Amaldi undocked from the Space Station on 28 September and completed the final part of its six-month servicing mission to the Station by reentering the atmosphere on 3 October and burning up as planned over an uninhabited area of the southern Pacific ocean.

ATVs perform all manoeuvres, including docking autonomously, under close surveillance by their control centre in Toulouse, France run jointly by ESA and CNES.

ATV Edoardo Amaldi and the International Space Station firing their thrusters to boost the orbital outpost’s orbit. 

This shot was captured by ESA astronaut André Kuipers during his PromISSe mission.

ATV-3, Edoardo Amaldi docked with the Interntional Space Station on 29 March 2012 during André’s six-month PromISSe mission.

The cargo ship delivered 6596 kg of fuel, air, oxygen, scientific equipment, spare parts and crew supplies.

While docked, the ATV-3 performed nine reboosts to keep the Space Station in orbit, counteracting the effects of atmospheric drag.

Without reboosts by ATV and Russia’s Progress vehicles, the Station would eventually fall back to Earth.

On 22 August, ATV-3’s eighth boost lasted for 40 minutes (nearly half an orbit) and raised the Station to new heights – a record-breaking 405 x 427 km above Earth.

During the six months that ATV-3 spent at the Station, it provided 48 cubic metres of extra space for the astronauts. Before its departure, the crew loaded its pressurised module with waste material.