ATV Edoardo Amaldi set for liftoff

Mar 22, 2012
A final view of Automated Transfer Vehicle Edoardo Amaldi before it is installed on the Ariane rocket. ESA’s third automated space freighter, Edoardo Amaldi, will carry about two tonnes of dry cargo, 285 kg of water and more than three tonnes of propellants to the International Space Station. Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Video du CSG - J.M. Guillon

ESA’s third Automated Transfer Vehicle, Edoardo Amaldi, is ready for launch to the International Space Station. ESA’s formal Launch Readiness Review on Monday revealed no problems with the vessel. Launch is set for this Friday at 04:34 GMT (05:34 CET).

The (ATV) is the largest cargo vessel supplying the International Space Station with food, water supplies and propellants.

Yesterday, Arianespace conducted their readiness review for the Ariane 5 mission, VA205, that will deliver ATV to orbit. It, too, is cleared for flight.

The protective fairing is lowered over Automated Transfer Vehicle Edoardo Amaldi. With the fairing in place, the spacecraft will be lowered on to the Ariane rocket that will launch it to the International Space Station. ESA’s third automated space freighter, Edoardo Amaldi, will carry about two tonnes of dry cargo, 285 kg of water and more than three tonnes of propellants to the International Space Station. Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Video du CSG - J.M. Guillon

Today, Ariane and ATV Edoardo Amaldi will be rolled to the pad in Kourou, French Guiana. The total vehicle mass is 777 tonnes –the heaviest ever for an Ariane. This ATV is also the rocket’s heaviest payload so far.

Follow the launch live via the ESA website – the webcast starts 30 minutes before liftoff.

Explore further: Field tests in Mojave Desert pave way for human exploration of small bodies

add to favorites email to friend print save as pdf

Related Stories

Successful review for Jules Verne ATV launcher

Mar 07, 2008

The Launch Readiness Review (RAL), organised by Arianespace at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, last night gave the go-ahead for today’s transfer of Ariane 5 out to the launch pad.

Jules Verne ATV launch approaching

Feb 11, 2008

After the successful launch of ESA’s Columbus laboratory aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on Thursday (7 February), it is now time to focus on the next imminent milestone for ESA: the launch of Jules Verne, ...

Jules Verne ATV launch rescheduled to March 9

Mar 03, 2008

Arianespace and the European Space Agency confirm today that the launch of Jules Verne, the first Automated Transfer Vehicle, is delayed 24 hours due to a technical concern about the ATV/Ariane 5 launcher ...

Recommended for you

Mars rover Opportunity examines clay clues in rock

17 hours ago

(Phys.org) —NASA's senior Mars rover, Opportunity, is driving to a new study area after a dramatic finish to 20 months on "Cape York" with examination of a rock intensely altered by water.

NASA's STEREO detects a CME from the sun

May 17, 2013

On 5:24 a.m. EDT on May 17, 2013, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space that can reach Earth ...

Nine-year-old Mars rover passes 40-year-old record

May 17, 2013

While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth's moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission's Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.210 statute miles ...

Bright explosion on the Moon

May 17, 2013

For the past 8 years, NASA astronomers have been monitoring the Moon for signs of explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. "Lunar meteor showers" have turned out to be more common than anyone ...

User comments : 0

More news stories

Galaxy's Ring of Fire

Johnny Cash may have preferred this galaxy's burning ring of fire to the one he sang about falling into in his popular song. The "starburst ring" seen at center in red and yellow hues is not the product of ...

Alaska volcano shoots ash 15,000 feet into the air

(AP)—One of Alaska's most restless volcanoes has shot an ash cloud 15,000 feet into the air in an ongoing eruption that has drawn attention from a nearby community but isn't expected to threaten air traffic.

Chinese, Indian airlines face EU pollution fines

Eight Chinese and two Indian airlines face fines of up to several million euros for not paying for their greenhouse gas emissions during flights within the bloc, the European Commission said on Friday.

Morocco to harness the wind in energy hunt

Morocco is ploughing ahead with a programme to boost wind energy production, particularly in the southern Tarfaya region, where Africa's largest wind farm is set to open in 2014.

US seizes Bitcoin operator accounts

US authorities seized the accounts of a Bitcoin digital currency exchange operator, claiming it was functioning as an "unlicensed money service business," court documents showed Friday.