It's official... Jules Verne ATV has been given the go-ahead to proceed for Demonstration Day 2. Shortly after 18:15 CEST (16:15 UT) Kirk Shireman, NASA's ISS Programme Manager, carried out a poll amongst all the ISS Partners and it was unanimous - "IMMT is go for Demo Day 2". Read more on the ESA website: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV/SEMIUAR03EF_0.html

Demo Day 2 is due to get underway tomorrow at around midday Toulouse local time (which since this morning is now 2 hours ahead of UT). The ESA website will carry a live stream of Demo Day 2 courtesy of a NASA TV video feed, and we'll also keep you posted with background information here on the blog, and the ATV website: http://www.esa.int/atv.

-- Maria

I received a couple more photos of Jules Verne as seen today here at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse. These were taken by ATV Mission Director Alberto Novelli from inside the control room. On the first one, Jules Verne is the white spot that can be seen next to earth's horizon. The second (click though!) is a view of the Simvol screen - this is the view the astronauts see on board ISS. ATV is the bright white object near the centre of the screen.
-- Maria



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We've just posted an update on the ATV website about today's demonstration. Soon after the demo ended, members of ATV team here at Toulouse started their meeting to discuss how Jules Verne performed. We managed to get their reaction to today's events.

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The Escape command was sent from ATV Control Centre at 18:30 CET. Jules Verne could be seen moving away from the ISS. The team is now analysing the data collected. More later...
-- Maria

A couple of exciting moments in the ATV Control Centre just a few moments ago. First a report from the crew onboard the International Space Station that they could actually see Jules Verne! And then, we could all see it for ourselves and as more than a white speck too! Click through to see the photo taken of the screen inside ATV-CC...

There was a great video posted yesterday in the ESA Web portal explaining the activities and step-by-step events for each of the ATV Demonstration Days - including today's Demo Day 1. Access via link below. -- Daniel

ATV orbital rehearsals for ISS docking

The aim of today's activities is to confirm that ATV can perform navigation with respect to the International Space Station - using relative GPS - to successfully and safely manoeuvre Jules Verne to a specific station point, S2, located 3500 m behind the ISS and at the same orbital altitude (more details after the jump). -- Daniel

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