The launch will be covered live from Kourou for broadcasters and on the Web, and celebrated at a launch event in Bremen, Germany. Europe's second ATV

Johannes Kepler is the first operational ATV, following the highly successful Jules Verne qualification flight in 2008. With a total mass of over 20 tonnes, it is the heaviest payload ever launched by Europe.

ATV is a highly sophisticated spacecraft, combining an autonomous free-flying platform, a manoeuvrable space vehicle and - when docked - a space station module.

To achieve an automated docking under the very tight safety constraints imposed by human spaceflight rules, ATV carries high-precision navigation systems, highly redundant flight software and a fully autonomous collision-avoidance system with its own independent power supplies, control and thrusters.

About 10 m high with a diameter of 4.5 m, ATV includes a 45-cubic m pressurised module and a Russian docking system, similar to those used on the Soyuz manned ferries and the Progress resupply ships.

With its solar wings deployed, ATV spans 22 m. Almost three times larger than Russia's Progress, it can also deliver about three times the cargo load.

Propellant and cargo for the ISS
On this first operational mission, ATV-2 is carrying over 7 tonnes of payload, including 4534 kg of propellant for International Space Station (ISS) reboost and attitude control.

Once docked to the ISS, this propellant will be used by ATV's own thrusters to raise the Station's orbit periodically in order to compensate for the natural decay caused by atmospheric drag.

It may also be used to move the ISS out of the way of potentially dangerous space debris that comes too close to the manned space complex.

ATV's payload includes almost 1600 kg of dry cargo, 850 kg of propellant for Russia's Zvezda module and 100 kg of oxygen.

Before leaving the ISS, in June, Johannes Kepler will be filled with waste bags and unwanted hardware by the crew. It will then be deorbited over the Southern Pacific Ocean and perform a controlled reentry to burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere.

Exceptionally, no drinking water will be delivered because there is already plenty aboard the ISS. The water tanks will, though, be filled with liquid waste from the Station before departure.

ATV Johannes Kepler is named after the famous German astronomer and mathematician who lived in the 16th and 17th centuries. He first depicted the movement of planetary bodies in elliptical orbits, thus paving the way for Isaac Newton's theory of gravitation.

It is the second in a series of five spaceships developed as Europe's contribution to the operational costs of the ISS. Astrium Space Transportation is prime industrial contractor, leading a team of more than 30 contractors in 10 European countries.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
Follow the ATV-2 mission
Station at NASA
Station and More at Roscosmos
S.P. Korolev RSC Energia
Watch NASA TV via Space.TV
Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com

Vandenberg Launches Minotaur One ISRO Awaits Data On GSLV Failure BrahMos Aerospace To Make Cryogenic Engines For Indian Rockets Activities At Esrange Space Center 2011 Northern Mars Landscape Actively Changing Martian Sand Dunes Re-Sculpted Regularly Rover Staying Busy While Mars Is Behind The Sun Mars Express Puts Craters On A Pedestal NASA's New Lander Prototype Skates Through Integration And Testing Draper Commits One Million Dollars To Next Giant Leap's Moon Lander Lunar water may have come from comets - scientists Moon Has Earth-Like Core Launch Plus Five Years: A Ways Traveled, A Ways To Go Mission To Pluto And Beyond Marks 10 Years Since Project Inception NASA Finds Earth-Size Planet Candidates In Habitable Zone A Six-Planet System Las Cumbres Scientists Play Key Role In New Planetry System Discovery Earth-Size Planet Candidates Found In Habitable Zone Opening Up The X-37B No Major Flaw In Failed GSLV-F06 US to regulate rocket fuel chemical in water The Brotherhood Of Speed Slow progress in U.S.-China space efforts China Builds Theme Park In Spaceport Tiangong Space Station Plans Progessing China-Made Satellite Keeps Remote Areas In Venezuela Connected Asteroid Busting NASA's NEOWISE Completes Scan For Asteroids And Comets NASA Stardust Adjusts Flight Path For Comet Meetup Spacecraft finds new comets, asteroids