Hatch opening
05 April, 2008 12:21
10:30 CEST - Crew enters ATV
ISS astronauts did the final ATV hatch opening at about 10:30 CEST (08:30
UT) this morning, clearing the way to start unloading
Jules Verne’s cargo. We spoke with Alberto Novelli at ATV-CC afterwards, and he was quite positive:
"Everyone here is really pleased with how operations have gone so far, both in space and on the ground. It's a great moment to watch the astronauts going in to ATV - everyone here is happy. Now we will continue to monitor progress."
There's a full report on the ESA Website. -- Daniel
Hatch opening
04 April, 2008 13:32
Air scrubber installed
Back from ATV-CC again. The air scrubber has been installed and is running... so the crew must have been inside ATV. The hatch will be closed again now whilst the scrubber does its job. Final hatch opening is scheduled for tomorrow morning at around 10:00 CEST (08:00 UT), although as always, that time is subject to change!
--Maria
Hatch opening
04 April, 2008 12:29
ATV hatch opened
At 12:17 CEST (10:17 UT) word was received that the ISS crew had opened the hatches between ISS and ATV. There was a gap in the Russian communications at the time the hatch opening was performed - when the communication came back online, the crew reported they had opened the hatches. First ingress should follow shortly after air sampling has been performed.
-- Maria
Hatch opening
04 April, 2008 11:04
Crew preparing to open hatch
Now that Jules Verne is part of the Space Station... it's time to get the hatch open. I was just over in the ATV Control Centre to find out the latest news. Hatch opening operations are set to get underway at 11:25 CEST (09:25 UT). Ingress should follow at 12:10 CEST (10:10 UT). Today's ingress is only partial. The crew will leave a so-called 'air scrubber' running inside ATV to clean the air of any gasses or small debris particles before final ingress on Saturday morning. More later!
--Maria
(Jean-François Clervoy explained hatch opening in an earlier post...)