Anxious moments as Europe's freighter makes maiden flight to space station - by Ian Sample
The largest, most complex spacecraft Europe has built is being readied for its maiden flight early tomorrow from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The 20-tonne robotic space freighter, crammed with fuel, food and spare parts is due to blast off at 4.03am GMT on a mission to deliver much-needed supplies to the international space station more than 200 miles overhead.The spacecraft is so complex, the operating manual runs to 28 volumes. Named Jules Verne after the visionary French science fiction author, it is the first of many ATVs due to be launched at 18-month intervals until 2015. Each will dock with the space station for up to six months, before being filled up with waste and jettisoned to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. "It's Europe's biggest spacecraft, it's by far the most complex, and it's been an amazing journey already. Now we're getting excited at seeing the fruits of our labour ready to fly," said John Ellwood, ATV project manager.
The launch will be an anxious moment for European space officials.The rocket had to be strengthened to lift the ATV, which weighs more than twice the heaviest payload an Ariane 5 has ever attempted to place in orbit The space center uses the faster rotation of the Earth at the equator to give launches a free boost. Rockets launching eastwards from the site can gain an extra 1,000mph compared with launches closer to the poles. Almost six tonnes of the ATV's cargo is fuel that it will use to reach the space station and boost it to a higher orbit. A further 860kg (1896lb) of hydrazine fuel will be pumped from the ATV into the space station's own tanks. The rest of the cargo hold will carry 20kg of oxygen, 270kg of water, 136kg of spare parts for Europe's Columbus science module and half a tonne of food.
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