ESA have launched a new blog covering the 2011 ATV Johannes Kepler mission.

Access the site via: http://blogs.esa.int/atv

In the meanwhile, this blog will remain available as an archive from the 2008 Jules Verne mission. -- Daniel

 

 

 

ATV-2 Johannes Kepler Integrated Cargo Carrier is ready for mating with the spacecrafts Propulsion Module. ATV-2 Johannes Kepler is the second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), Europe's resupply spacecraft for the International Space Station. Johannes Kepler is being prepared for launch at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.(Image credit: ESA)

The second of ESA’s ATV automated cargo craft has been cleared for shipping to the launch site in Kourou. Its launch on an Ariane 5 to the International Space Station is scheduled for late this year.
 
ATV-2, named after German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, has undergone extensive system testing at EADS Astrium’s site in Bremen, Germany, over the last few months and has now been given the go-ahead for shipping. It will be dispatched to Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana in several sections, accompanied by 59 containers with test equipment. In Kourou, it will be assembled and extensively tested before being loaded with cargo and fuelled. The launch is now planned for the end of 2010.

Full article: http://bit.ly/d6VPvW 

This published earlier today in the main ESA web site -- Daniel

Third ATV named after Edoardo Amaldi

Production of the Automated Transfer Vehicles is gearing up. After the flawless flight of the first ATV, Jules Verne, the second, Johannes Kepler, is being completed for launch later this year. Now, the third ATV has been named after the Italian physicist and space pioneer Edoardo Amaldi.

Full article under this link

The Integrated Cargo Carrier for Europe's second Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV Johannes Kepler, has been delivered to the premises of EADS Astrium in Bremen, Germany.
 
Scheduled for launch in November 2010, ATV Johannes Kepler is Europe's second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), an unmanned cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS). ATV-2, named after the German astronomer and mathematician, is currently being assembled in Bremen by the European industrial consortium lead by EADS Astrium.

Full article in the ESA web site: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV/SEMDXTV0EZF_0.html

ESA's second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) has been named Johannes Kepler after the German astronomer and mathematician. Europe's next unmanned logistics spacecraft is scheduled for launch to the International Space Station in mid-2010. Access full story on the main ESA portal here.

A high resolution version of the Jules Verne ATV re-entry is now available - see below!

Credit: ESA/NASA

These just sent in by ESA's Emilio De Pasquale, who says:

"Find here attached still images from a high-definition TV camera operated by Jessie Carpenter and Bill Moede of NASA Ames Research Center. The images were prepared by Eric James of the same group."

 (Click on 'Full story' for images). -- Daniel

 

 Full story »

A spectacular video recorded 29 September 2008 by the observation team chasing ATV Jules Verne as it plunged through the atmosphere. The video shows the spacecraft breaking up over the Pacific Ocean beginning at about 15:36 CEST. (A downloadable version will be published in the main ESA portal shortly.)

Credit: ESA/NASA

 

MP3 audio recording of ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain speaking to the media at the IAC (59th International Astronautical Congress), Glasgow, Scotland, earlier this afternoon - shortly after ATV's reentry.

Click here to access mp3 file if playback box above is not visible.