Goodbye, Jules Verne
Remember Jules Verne? The ESA Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) that visited the International Space Station (ISS) last April?
After a flawless six months mission, Jules Verne undocked from ISS early this month and after 23 days flight above our sky, it is now heading for a controlled destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere later today.
Backdropped by the Earth, ESA’s Jules Verne ATV continues its relative separation from the International Space Station. The ATV undocked from ISS on September 5 and scheduled re-enter Earth’s atmosphere on September 29. Credit: NASA
Jules Verne has surpasses all expectations: it successfully performed a fully-automated docking with the ISS; delivered the necessary supplies to the space station; re-boosted the station to higher orbit due to atmospheric drag; performing an debris avoidance manoeuvre for ISS; removing waste and garbage from the space station; provided a new hygiene station and even sleeping quarters. The ATV has truly demonstrated all its key capabilities, and more.
The ATV will enter the atmosphere over a completely inhabited area of the South Pacific to be viewable from the ISS. This huge “fireball” will also be observed by two specially-equipped observation aircraft to be deployed at monitoring locations in the region.
It’s a sad ending for such a wonderful spacecraft, and it seems like a waste just to burn it up like that… but this was what Jules Verne designed to be – a disposable, single-use re-supply ship for the space station.
As it dives into our atmosphere for a fiery end later today, we can only look up and say: “Goodbye Jules Verne…” (although I don’t think we can see it)
My Dark Sky 
[…] Fiery End of Jules Verne Jules Verne successfully completed its six-month mission when it re-entered our atmosphere and burned up over the South […]
The Fiery End of Jules Verne « My Dark Sky said this on September 30, 2008 at 3:50 pm |