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First ATV Leaves Europe To Prepare For Launch From Kourou Spaceport In French Guiana

The ATV European resupply spaceship is a crucial element of the International Space Station (ISS) programme.
by Staff Writers
Noordwijk, Holland (ESA) Jun 18, 2007
Time to bid farewell to the most sophisticated spacecraft ever built in Europe. The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) will leave ESA's ESTEC establishment in the Netherlands in mid-July and be shipped to Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

There, it will start its launch preparation campaign which will last several months, before being launched by Ariane 5 not earlier than mid-January 2008 and, after a 12 to 15 day journey, docking automatically with the International Space Station using its own propulsion and navigation systems.

To mark the upcoming departure of this first ATV, the Jules Verne, ESA is inviting media representatives interested in covering this event to attend a Media Day on 28 June at ESTEC.

This will not only feature an opportunity to see the Jules Verne in its clean room at the test centre there but also presentations by experts from ESA and industry on the latest status of the project.

The programme also includes ATV photo and video opportunities as well as opportunities to interview various experts.

The ATV European resupply spaceship is a crucial element of the International Space Station (ISS) programme.

It will deliver refuelling propellant for the Station's own propulsion system, as well as air and drinking water for the crew. It will also transport science experiments and related hardware, thus making a major contribution to ISS logistics.

The ATV will also give the Space Station an orbit reboost to overcome the effects of residual atmospheric drag. After serving for six months as a work space extension of the ISS, its final task after undocking will be to dispose of waste during a guided and controlled destructive reentry into the atmosphere, high over the Pacific

earlier related report
Assessment of ESA's ATV mission readiness results in a new launch window Noordwijk, Holland (ESA) Jun 14, 2007 Europe's first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is ready for launch and will be shipped to Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, in mid-July for a launch campaign that will last several months.

The on-going qualification review, launcher availability (a specially built Ariane 5 version) and 'heavy traffic' at the International Space Station towards the end of the year, lead to a revised launch window that sees now a possibility for the Jules Verne ATV to lift-off not earlier than mid-January 2008.

Once in Kourou, the ATV will have to undergo integration and further tests " as is customary for all spacecraft before launch. Only upon completion of such tests and taking into account the schedule of the Ariane launches will it be possible to set a precise launch date.

Jules Verne is the first of a series of ATVs which will bring supplies including food, water, and fuel as well as experiment equipment to the crew on board the International Space Station. A crucial element of the ISS programme, the ATV will also re-boost the Station's orbit to overcome the effects of residual atmospheric drag.

After six months the ATV will undock and be used to dispose of Station waste during a guided and controlled destructive re-entry into the atmosphere high over the Pacific Ocean.

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Success At Woomera As Scramjet Clips Mach 10
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Jun 18, 2007
Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) has today launched one of the world's fastest air-breathing engine experiments, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, Mr Peter Lindsay announced. The scramjet engine experiment reached speeds of up to Mach 10, approximately 11,000 km per hour, or ten times the speed of sound. Scramjets are air-breathing supersonic combustion ramjet engines that could make it possible for a two hour flight from Sydney to London.







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