14th January 2008
Propellant fuelling operations on the ATV Jules Verne have begun.
In the evening of 8 January, authorisation to proceed with fuelling the ATV was given, so that the Jules Verne will be ready for launch before the end of February.
On Wednesday 9 January the UDMH (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine) was added to the refuelling system.
Operations are now continuing with configuration in preparation for adding the N2O4 of the refuelling system which will take place during the week commencing 14 January. The filling of the main propulsion system will then take place before the end of January.
Astrium engineers filling the refuelling system (RFS).
Photos © 2008 ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Photo optique vidéo du CSG
08 January 2008
Last stages in the ATV readiness campaign: the aft door of the cargo carrier was sealed on 12 December after loading the dry cargo
Then weighing and identification of the centre of gravity of the spacecraft and cargo carrier sub-assemblies was carried out. Final assembly of these two sub-assemblies took place on 15 December, followed by checks for correct functioning (up to 21 December).
The green light was given for final configuration of the propulsion sub-system, including connecting the propellant feeds between the spacecraft and cargo carrier sub-assemblies.
Pressurisation of the helium tanks in the refuelling system and the propulsion system took place between 26 and 29 December.
The Jules Verne was set up for transfer to the fuelling chamber on 2 January, and the transfer was made on 3 January.
The Jules Verne was then prepared for the preliminary propellant fuelling operations, which began on 8 January and will continue throughout the month. Teams from Astrium’s sites in Bremen, Lampoldshausen and Stevenage are responsible for this stage. It should be noted that the ATV carries four different types of propellant giving a total mass of 6.5 tonnes.
A big thank you to the teams who stayed at their posts throughout the holiday period to make sure that the ATV readiness campaign continued smoothly. Two skeleton teams worked in parallel to prepare the Jules Verne and the fuelling systems.
Photos from left to right: Sealing the Aft Door of the Cargo Carrier; Weighing the spacecraft and the cargo carrier ( Photo 2&3); Assembling the Jules Verne; The ATV Team
Photos © 2008 ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Photo optique vidéo du CSG
11 December 2007
Several major stages completed in ATV launch readiness campaign
Last week, the ATV’s tanks were filled with 280 litres of drinking water for the astronauts in the International Space Station (ISS). This water has been treated according to Russian standards and will be transferred to the Russian tanks on the ISS.
Around 1,300 kg of ‘dry cargo’ for the inhabitants of the ISS, prepared by the NASA and ESA teams and delivered to Kourou last October, has been stocked in the pressurised module. This includes food (500 kg), clothing (80 kg) and spare parts.
Before loading the dry cargo, the pressurised module was disinfected so as to eliminate any risk of contamination for the astronauts onboard the ISS. These are the last procedures prior to the sealing of the ATV’s pressurised module planned for 13 December. In orbit, once the ATV is docked to the ISS, the astronauts will be able to access the pressurised module via the airlock between the two vehicles.
Also last week the batteries were integrated and connected to the electrical system and the final version of the flight software was loaded.
The coming week will be given over to final checks before the definitive assembly of the spacecraft and the ICC. This will be yet another key week for the ATV programme, as the flight segment Final Acceptance Review will take place at Astrium's Les Mureaux site.
Loading the 'dry cargo' into the pressurised module
Integration of the batteries
Photos © 2007 ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Photo optique vidéo du CSG
28 October/01 November 2007
ATV Solar Panel Integration
The solar panel rotation mechanisms have been integrated, following which the solar panels themselves were integrated by personnel from Astrium and Dutch Space. The ATV had to be rotated into a horizontal position for the integration of the solar panels. The panels were fully deployed and then refurled ready for the flight. Each panel was minutely inspected before integration.
Photos © 2007 - ESA /CNES/Arianespace/Photo optique vidéo du CSG
29 October 2007
ATV system qualification – another successful step forward
As planned several months back, the ATV system qualification review steering committee met at ESA-ESTEC on 5 October. The conclusions of the meeting were positive. more...
Photo © EADS SPACE Transportation/ I. Wagner
10 October 2007
Jules Verne dry cargo prepared in Turin
The following is an extract from a European Space Agency press release posted on 10 October 2007 about this stage of the procedure:
“Around 180 kg of dry cargo which is to be carried into space on board Jules Verne […] is currently undergoing final preparation in Turin, Italy, ahead of shipment to the launch in Kourou, French Guiana […]. The cargo items […] include spare parts for the European Columbus laboratory and the ATV itself […] The European dry cargo also contains […] two original manuscripts on space and astronomy […] written by visionary author and namesake of the first ATV, Jules Verne […]. In a final step before the cargo is ready for shipment, a Cargo Bench Review took place on 3 October […] in Turin […]. Once the cargo items arrive in Kourou, following an external inspection the Cargo Transfer Bags will be placed in storage ready for installation into Jules Verne ATV Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) early in November.”
Photos © ESA
03 October 2007
Successful test of Jules Verne software
The following is an extract from a European Space Agency press release posted on 3 October 2007 about this stage of the procedure:
“For the first time, the compatibility of the final Jules Verne Automatic Transfer Vehicle flight software has been successfully tested this month with the rest of the vast ISS flight software by international teams at the NASA Software Verification Facility (SVF) in Houston […]. This ISS-level stage test, the so-called ‘five box’ test, is a new step where the ATV software is integrated into the whole ISS software ground testbed. It was conducted for 12 days over three weeks by some 43 engineers from NASA, ESA, Astrium, RSC-Energia and Boeing […]. Another 30 people behind the scenes also provided support on-site, in Russia and Europe […]. ‘The ATV Stage Integration Test was very successful and surpassed all of our expectations […],’ said Susan Creasy, NASA ISS Avionics and Software Office Manager.”
Photos © ESA
18 September
The ATV campaign is continuing apace in Kourou with functional checks and test of the sealing on the propulsion system now being carried out.
Photos © 2007 ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Photo optique vidéo du CSG
The communications, power supply, navigation, security and monitoring systems have been tested and no major problems have been detected.
The sealing of the propulsion system is also being checked. There are a number of important operations planned over the coming days: checking the Russian refuelling system (which will house the propellants to be transferred to the ISS’ tanks) and integration of the solar panels.
27 August
The ATV integration campaign continues at the Kourou space centre
Photos © 2007 ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Photo optique vidéo du CSG
Major technical events of the last two weeks:
Airtightness and watertightness tests on the gas and water tanks have been carried out. The spacecraft and Integrated Cargo Carrier electrical connections were established on 16 August and tested straight away. The flight software was switched on and first functional tests performed.
In parallel, the thermoswitches in the attitude control motors had to be changed following a component alert. A specialist team from Lampoldshausen came over to carry out this particularly delicate operation.
