ESA ISS astronaut Alexander Gerst inside ATV-5 Georges Lemaître

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst inside ATV Georges Lemaitre for the first time on orbit after hatch opening.

Alexander wears a facemask to protect against inhaling any fine particles of dust or debris that might have shaken lose at launch. 

One of first things the crew does is install fans and air cleaners to run for several hours inside ATV.

ATV-5 approaches for docking

Credits: Roscomos/O.Artemyev 
 
The fifth and last Automated Transfer Vehicle docked with the International Space Station a day earlier on 12 August 2014.

ATV-5 delivered 6.6 tonnes of supplies to the ISS including food, water, fuel, clothes and experiment hardware.

Credits: ESA/NASA

ESA ATV-5 Georges Lemaître last ISS cargo Delivery

ATV-5 Georges Lemaître, the European Space Agency's fifth and last Automated Transfer Vehicle cargo ship, arrives at the International Space Station on Aug. 12, 2014 to deliver more than 7 tons of supplies. 

Europe's ATV spacecraft are one of several unmanned cargo ships keeping the space station stocked with supplies.

Credit: NASA TV

An unmanned European cargo vessel has linked up with the International Space Station for the last time.

The European Space Agency's fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-5) joined up with the station at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) on Tuesday (Aug. 12) as both spacecraft sailed high over southern Kazakhstan in Central Asia.

The delivery is the final one by Europe's ATV fleet of spacecraft, which has been resupplying the orbiting lab since 2008.

Tuesday's ATV docking at the aft end of the station's Russian-built Zvezda module was "as flawless as can be," NASA spokesman Rob Navias said during a live broadcast of the orbital meet-up. "A perfect rendezvous and a textbook docking."

ESA: ATV-5 Georges Lemaître docking with ISS

Camera views (planned): VIP event at ATV-CC, ATV-CC Main Control Room, US camera on ISS, RUS camera on ISS, Live ATV animation. Credit: ESA, CNES

While the audio is in French, you can't beat this last-ever docking webcast extravaganza, which includes your choice of five (5!) camera views in one webcast. Audio commentary provided by the CNES team at ATV-CC.

ISS Preparation for ESA ATV-5 Spacewalk

ISS astronaut crew prepares for upcoming spacewalk (EVA) during ESA ATV-5's slow trek to the space station.

Credit: NASA

ESA Ariane 5 ES launches ATV-5 Georges Lemaître en route to the ISS

Europe’s ATV-5 cargo ship has set sail on a 14 day journey to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday.

The final ATV mission began when the vehicle’s Ariane 5 ES carrier rocket launched the “Georges Lemaître” from the Guiana Space Centre, in Kourou, French Guiana at 23:47 UTC.

ATV-5
Arianespace’s latest ATV mission in support of International Space Station operations was designated as Flight VA219 in the company’s numbering system, and utilised an Ariane 5 ES version of the heavy-lift workhorse.

As the ATV has the largest cargo carrying capability of all the ISS Visiting Vehicles (VVs), it also has the ability to perform ISS reboosts.

The ATV is named after Belgian physicist Georges Lemaître, carrying on the naming tradition of the European cargo hauler that began with “Jules Verne” in March 2008, which was followed by “Johannes Kepler” in February 2011, “Edoardo Amaldi” in March 2012, and last June’s flight with “Albert Einstein.”

ATV Georges Lemaître is Europe’s fifth, and final, Automated Transfer Vehicle for servicing of the crewed orbital facility.

It is also the heaviest-ever payload orbited by Ariane 5, with a liftoff mass greater than 20 metric tons.

ATV-5 is carrying a large load of both internal (dry) and propellant (wet) cargo. Specifically, the pressurized Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) section will carry around 2,600kg of cargo, including food, crew provisions, and scientific hardware.

The Service Module (SM) is carrying 570kg of water, 100kg of gas (air and oxygen), 2,230kg of propellants available for ISS reboosts, and 860kg of propellants for transfer to the Russian Segment (RS).