ESA Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) undergoing final ground tests - videos

The European Space Agency on Tuesday put the final touches to its first-ever "space plane" before blasting it into sub-orbit for tests aimed at eventually paving the way to the continent's first space shuttle.

ESA’s IXV Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle is removed from its protective container, safely inside the cleanroom environment of the Agency’s Technical Centre.

Credit: ESA

Assembled in Italy, the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) is undergoing final ground tests at the ESA's headquarters in Noordwijk, north of The Hague, before being shipped to Kourou in French Guiana later this month.

On November 18 the sneaker-shaped IXV will take off aboard ESA's Vega rocket to a height of 450 kilometres (280 miles) where it will go into sub-orbital flight.

Set to fly for 100 minutes, the IXV will then re-enter Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 28,000 km/h over the Pacific Ocean, plunge into the water and then be picked up by a ship.

Bristling with 300 sensors, the IXV will collect myriad data including on what scientists refer to as aerothermodynamics, the heat exchange in gasses and solid surfaces at very high speed, usually supersonic flight.

The data will tell ESA's scientists how the IXV's structure holds up, as well as how its shape performs aerodynamically under extreme conditions.


"The IXV is the starting point and the mission is of huge importance for the future of space shuttles for Europe," Giorgio Tumino, the craft's mission manager, told journalists.

"This mission's key objective is to acquire the capability to come back to earth from orbit," he said.

Built from high-tech ceramics and carbon-fibre, as well as ordinary cork, the IXV is 5.0 metres (16 feet) long and 2.2 metres wide, the same size as a medium-sized car.

The plane could be adapted in future to carry astronauts, Tumino told AFP.

The IXV was developed over five years at a cost of 150 million euros ($193 million).

"If Europe for instance wants to bring back astronauts from the International Space Station to the ground, this (test flight) is a fundamental step," Tumino said.

"We cannot put a person on board a spacecraft without testing its capability to survive re-entry into the earth's atmosphere," he added.

Arecibo Observatory undergoing emergency repairs after earthquake damage

The Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico.

The NAIC Arecibo Observatory's 305 meter (1,000 ft) radio telescope is undergoing emergency repair after being damaged during a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on January 13, 2014.

A large cable that supports the telescope's receiver platform had "serious damage," according to Bob Kerr, the Director of the Arecibo Observatory.

Bob Kerr

"A protocol structural survey following the January 13 earthquake revealed serious damage to [a] short cable section, with apparent breach of several cable strands," Kerr told reporters.

"An experienced structural engineering firm was brought to assess the damage, and to consider repair options."

The earthquake's epicenter was located in the ocean about 60 kilometers (37 miles) northwest of Arecibo and was one of the largest to hit Puerto Rico in several years.

The quake caused some floor cracking in buildings and homes on the island, as well as power outages, but no major damages or injuries, officials said.

There were, however, at least 70 aftershocks with at least three of a magnitude 3.5 or greater.

The famous radio observatory is located near Puerto Rico's north coast, and opened in 1963. It was built inside a depression left by a sinkhole and is the largest curved focusing dish on Earth.

The dish's surface is made of thousands of perforated aluminum panels, each about 1 by 2 meters (3 by 6 feet), supported by a mesh of steel cables.

The receiver is on a 900-ton platform suspended 137 meters (450 feet) above the dish by 18 cables running from three reinforced concrete towers.

It was one of these 18 cables that was damaged, and this particular cable was actually a known potential problem.

Kerr said that during original construction of the telescope in 1962, one of the original platform suspension cables that was delivered to the observatory was too short, and another short cable section was "spliced" to provide sufficient reach to the platform.

"That cable segment and splice near the top of one of the telescope towers was consequently more rigid than the balance of the suspension system," Kerr said.

"When the earthquake shook the site, just after midnight on January 13, it is that short cable and splice that suffered damage."

The platform hangs above the Arecibo dish, supported by cables. 

Credit: Cornell University.

"You might say that our structural Achilles heel was exposed," Kerr added.

Inspectors from New York's Ammann & Whitney Bridge Construction, who have been inspecting the Arecibo observatory site since 1972, were brought in to access the situation.

Kerr said a relatively low-cost (less than $100,000) repair option was designed, and materials are now being procured to complete a repair that is expected to bring the telescope back into full service.

ESA ATV_5: Georges Lemaître undergoes pre-flight checkout

In the Spaceport’s S5C high bay, ATV Georges Lemaître’s Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) emerges from its specialized shipping container, which is adorned with artwork (left) depicting the Ariane 5 flight with this spacecraft, as well as the resupply vehicle’s namesake. 

In a view of the ICC’s aft section (right), the shapes’ of six large tanks in the module’s Equipped External Bay are visible.

The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) “Georges Lemaître” has begun preflight checkout in the Spaceport’s clean room facilities, following its arrival in French Guiana for a scheduled Ariane 5 flight next year.

As the fifth and final ATV to be launched by Arianespace under current arrangements with the European Space Agency, this spacecraft’s Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) has now been removed from its special shipping container in the S5C preparation hall.

The ICC makes up 60 percent of the Automated Transfer Vehicle’s total volume, with the capacity of ferrying up to 6.6 metric tons of cargo – both dry and fluid – on the spacecraft’s servicing mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Incorporating a two-part design, the Integrated Cargo Carrier includes a pressurized module for docking to the space station, where all dry materials are contained.

Up to two ISS astronauts can access this section while the spacecraft is attached to the orbital facility, working to unload supplies or conduct experiments.

The Integrated Cargo Carrier’s front cone (pictured above) contains the docking system, which allows for physical, electrical and propellant connections with the International Space Station, in addition to crewmember access through its 80 cm.-diameter hatch when connected to the orbital facility.

Fluid cargo – such as propellant for refueling of the International Space Station – is stored in the ICC’s non-pressurized area and transferred to the space station through pipes or manually operated hoses.

Prior to Georges Lemaître’s ESA-targeted launch date in 2014, final assembly of the spacecraft will be carried out at the Spaceport, including the Integrated Cargo Carrier, the Service Module solar panels and the Separation and Distancing Module (SDM) that links the ATV to its Ariane 5 vehicle.

Designated Georges Lemaître after the Belgian physicist and father of the Big Bang theory, the fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle will resupply the International Space Station, as well as perform maneuvers to maintain this manned facility’s nominal orbit.

An Astrium-led industry consortium is responsible for producing this series of resupply spacecraft under the European Space Agency-managed program.

To date all four Automated Transfer Vehicles have been orbited by Ariane 5 ES launchers, beginning with “Jules Verne” in March 2008, which was followed by “Johannes Kepler” in February 2011, “Edoardo Amaldi” in March 2012, and this June’s flight with “Albert Einstein.”

Boeing CST-100 Mock-Up Undergoes Airbag Stabilisation Test - Video

The Boeing Company's mock-up CST-100 spacecraft was put through water landing development tests Oct. 1-5, 2012, at Bigelow Aerospace's headquarters outside of Las Vegas.

Engineers with Bigelow have dropped the capsule-shaped spacecraft into an outdoor pool from a crane more than four times to assess whether the airbags will stabilize the capsule during landings as planned.

The tests are part of Boeing's ongoing work supporting its funded Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) during the agency's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) development phase.

Program Contact: Candrea Thomas, 321-867-2468 HQ Contact: Trent Perrotto, 202-358-0321