European cargo ship launched on flight to space station
03/23/2012 01:49 AM Filed in: Space News | International Space Station
Editor's note...
CBS News
A powerful Ariane 5 rocket roared to life and blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana, early Friday, boosting an unmanned European Space Agency cargo craft into orbit on a mission to deliver 7.3 tons of critical supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.
The Arianespace rocket climbed away from its launching pad on the northeast coast of South America at 12:34:05 a.m. EDT (GMT-4), roughly the moment when Earth's rotation carried the launch site into the plane of the space station's orbit. One hour later, a final rocket firing put ESA's third Automated Transfer Vehicle onto the proper rendezvous trajectory and a few moments after that, ATV-3 was released to fly on its own.
"It's a good start, a very good start," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general of the European Space Agency. "It's in the right orbit. So this is the start of a long journey. There will be other critical phases. ... but this is already a fantastic success."
Launch originally was scheduled for March 9, but the flight was delayed after engineers reviewing closeout photos noticed potential problems with straps used to hold cargo bags in place. The problem was corrected and engineers were cleared to press ahead with launch early Friday.
If all goes well, the spacecraft will complete an automated approach to the space station on March 28, gliding to an autonomous docking at the Zvezda command module's aft port around 6:32:51 p.m. Expedition 30 flight engineer Oleg Kononenko and ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers planned to monitor the approach from a computer work station in Zvezda. Unlike Russian Progress supply ships, the ATV cannot be manually flown by remote control, but the astronauts can send commands to abort an approach if something goes wrong.
Named after Italian physicist Edoardo Amaldi, ATV-3 is packed with some 4.5 tons of propellant, 628 pounds of water, 220 pounds of oxygen and 2.4 tons of dry cargo, including experiment hardware, spare parts, food, clothing and other material. It is scheduled to remain attached to the space station until Sept. 3.
With ATV-3 in place, the six station fliers will turn their attention to unpacking and preparing for the arrival of a Russian Progress supply ship on April 20. Ten days after that, three of the station's six crew members -- Expedition 30 commander Daniel Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin -- plan to return to Earth aboard their Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft. They originally planned to come home in mid March, but their stay in orbit was extended, and downstream flights delayed, after a test mishap that damaged the next Soyuz in the crew rotation sequence.
Soyuz TMA-22 is scheduled to land around 6:12 a.m. on April 30. Six hours later, at 12:22 p.m., a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Dragon cargo ship, the first commercial spacecraft built to service the space station, is scheduled for launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on the program's maiden flight to the International Space Station.
Unlike the ATV, the Dragon capsule built by SpaceX will not fly all the way to docking. Instead, after tests May 2 to make sure the spacecraft is operating properly, it will position itself within reach of the station's robot arm on May 3. Kuipers, operating the space crane with flight engineer Donald Pettit, then will lock onto the cargo craft and move it to the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module for berthing.
For the test flight, the Dragon module is carrying crew clothing, food and other non-essential supplies and equipment. The first of 12 planned cargo delivery missions under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA is expected to take off late this summer.
NASA originally hoped to schedule the SpaceX test flight during a period when the station was fully staffed with six crew members. But with the departure of Burbank, Shkaplerov and Ivanishin April 30, the long-awaited berthing of the first commercial cargo craft will be the responsibility of Expedition 31 commander Kononenko, Kuipers and Pettit.
Two weeks later, on May 15, three fresh station crew members -- veteran ISS commander Gennady Padalka, rookie Sergei Revin and shuttle veteran Joseph Acaba -- plan to blast off aboard the Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft, docking at the station two days later and boosting the lab's crew back to six.
Here is an updated launch-to-docking timeline (in EDT and mission elapsed time):
- Posted at 02:47 PM EDT, 03/22/12: European cargo ship prepped for launch to space station
- CORRECTED at 10:16 PM EDT, 03/22/12: Fixing docking date; typos
- Updated at 01:50 AM EDT, 03/23/12: ESA launches ATV-3 on flight to space station
CBS News
A powerful Ariane 5 rocket roared to life and blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana, early Friday, boosting an unmanned European Space Agency cargo craft into orbit on a mission to deliver 7.3 tons of critical supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.
 |
| An Ariane 5 rocket carrying a European Space Agency cargo ship bound for the International Space Station blasts off early Friday from Kourou, French Guiana. (Credit: European Space Agency) |
"It's a good start, a very good start," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general of the European Space Agency. "It's in the right orbit. So this is the start of a long journey. There will be other critical phases. ... but this is already a fantastic success."
Launch originally was scheduled for March 9, but the flight was delayed after engineers reviewing closeout photos noticed potential problems with straps used to hold cargo bags in place. The problem was corrected and engineers were cleared to press ahead with launch early Friday.
 |
| (Credit: European Space Agency) |
Named after Italian physicist Edoardo Amaldi, ATV-3 is packed with some 4.5 tons of propellant, 628 pounds of water, 220 pounds of oxygen and 2.4 tons of dry cargo, including experiment hardware, spare parts, food, clothing and other material. It is scheduled to remain attached to the space station until Sept. 3.
With ATV-3 in place, the six station fliers will turn their attention to unpacking and preparing for the arrival of a Russian Progress supply ship on April 20. Ten days after that, three of the station's six crew members -- Expedition 30 commander Daniel Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin -- plan to return to Earth aboard their Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft. They originally planned to come home in mid March, but their stay in orbit was extended, and downstream flights delayed, after a test mishap that damaged the next Soyuz in the crew rotation sequence.
Soyuz TMA-22 is scheduled to land around 6:12 a.m. on April 30. Six hours later, at 12:22 p.m., a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Dragon cargo ship, the first commercial spacecraft built to service the space station, is scheduled for launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on the program's maiden flight to the International Space Station.
Unlike the ATV, the Dragon capsule built by SpaceX will not fly all the way to docking. Instead, after tests May 2 to make sure the spacecraft is operating properly, it will position itself within reach of the station's robot arm on May 3. Kuipers, operating the space crane with flight engineer Donald Pettit, then will lock onto the cargo craft and move it to the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module for berthing.
For the test flight, the Dragon module is carrying crew clothing, food and other non-essential supplies and equipment. The first of 12 planned cargo delivery missions under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA is expected to take off late this summer.
NASA originally hoped to schedule the SpaceX test flight during a period when the station was fully staffed with six crew members. But with the departure of Burbank, Shkaplerov and Ivanishin April 30, the long-awaited berthing of the first commercial cargo craft will be the responsibility of Expedition 31 commander Kononenko, Kuipers and Pettit.
Two weeks later, on May 15, three fresh station crew members -- veteran ISS commander Gennady Padalka, rookie Sergei Revin and shuttle veteran Joseph Acaba -- plan to blast off aboard the Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft, docking at the station two days later and boosting the lab's crew back to six.
Here is an updated launch-to-docking timeline (in EDT and mission elapsed time):
DATE/EDT......DD...HH...MM...SS...EVENT
03/23/12
12:34:05 AM...00...00...00...00...Launch
01:33:58 AM...00...00...59...53...Orbital Insertion
09:57:52 AM...00...09...23...47...Phasing Maneuver TP1 (6.17 m/s)
10:23:47 AM...00...09...49...42...Phasing Maneuver TP2 (6.10 m/s)
03/24/12
10:17:00 AM...01...09...42...55...CAM Test 1 MSU1
11:49:00 AM...01...11...14...55...CAM Test 1 MSU2
03/25/12
12:56:34 AM...02...00...22...29...Phasing Maneuver MC1_1 (1.60 m/s)
01:41:32 AM...02...01...07...27...Phasing Maneuver MC1_2 (1.60 m/s)
03/26/12
03:31:32 PM...03...14...57...27...Phasing Maneuver MC2_1 (1.40 m/s)
04:16:38 PM...03...15...42...33...Phasing Maneuver MC2_2 (1.40 m/s)
03/27/12
04:18:32 PM...04...15...44...27...Phasing Maneuver TV1_1 (17.76 m/s)
05:03:54 PM...04...16...29...49...Phasing Maneuver TV1_2 (17.87 m/s)
11:57:44 PM...04...23...23...39...Phasing Maneuver TV2_1 (6.00 m/s)
03/28/12
12:43:33 AM...05...00...09...28...Phasing Maneuver TV2_2 (6.00 m/s)
07:37:36 AM...05...07...03...31...Phasing Maneuver TV3_1 (3.00 m/s)
08:01:01 AM...05...07...26...56...Phasing Maneuver TV3_2 (0.00 m/s)
08:23:36 AM...05...07...49...31...Phasing Maneuver TV3_3 (3.00 m/s)
09:48:30 AM...05...09...14...25...S-2 Waypoint
11:49:00 AM...05...11...14...55...Port & Starboard SARJ to Lock, Position = 0
12:19:00 PM...05...11...44...55...Feather and Latch Aft BGAs
12:37:22 PM...05...12...03...17...S-1 Waypoint
12:42:51 PM...05...12...08...46...ATV PCE On
12:45:02 PM...05...12...10...57...Phasing Maneuver IF1 (0.00 m/s)
01:30:00 PM...05...12...55...55...Handover US to RS LVLH
01:31:10 PM...05...12...57...05...Phasing Maneuver IF2 (0.00 m/s)
01:39:00 PM...05...13...04...55...ISS Transition to Prox Ops Mode
01:53:00 PM...05...13...18...55...SM PCE On
02:11:00 PM...05...13...36...55...ISS Mnvr to Dock Attitude LVLH
02:15:52 PM...05...13...41...47...Phasing Maneuver IF3 (1.20 m/s)
02:24:51 PM...05...13...50...46...S-1/2 Waypoint
03:10:59 PM...05...14...36...54...S1 Waypoint/Homing Maneuver HM1 (600 s, 1.69 m/s)
03:26:28 PM...05...14...52...23...Homing Maneuver HM2 (150 s, 0.04 m/s)
03:41:58 PM...05...15...07...53...Homing Maneuver HM3 (150 s, 0.16 m/s)
03:47:28 PM...05...15...13...23...Homing Maneuver HM4 (600 s, 2.10 m/s)
03:55:00 PM...05...15...20...55...SM Solar Array Feather
03:57:28 PM...05...15...23...23...ATV Kurs-A Activation
03:57:28 PM...05...15...23...23...Arrive at S2 Holdpoint
04:07:00 PM...05...15...32...55...SM Kurs-P Activation
04:10:45 PM...05...15...36...40...DO15 Node
04:23:28 PM...05...15...49...23...Russian ground station AOS
04:28:51 PM...05...15...54...46...Depart S2/Closing Maneuver CM1 (270 s, 1.49 m/s)
04:31:27 PM...05...15...57...22...Sunrise
04:41:51 PM...05...16...07...46...Closing Maneuver CM2 (180 s, 0.40 m/s)
04:44:34 PM...05...16...10...29...Russian ground station LOS
04:54:51 PM...05...16...20...46...Closing Maneuver CM3 (150 s, 0.41 m/s)
05:02:11 PM...05...16...28...06...Closing Maneuver CM4 (400 s, 1.55 m/s)
05:08:51 PM...05...16...34...46...Arrive at S3 Holdpoint
05:25:00 PM...05...16...50...55...Ku-band Antenna Mask Enabled
05:28:35 PM...05...16...54...30...Sunset
05:43:00 PM...05...17...08...55...DO1 Node
05:45:21 PM...05...17...11...16...Depart S3 Holdpoint
05:58:51 PM...05...17...24...46...Russian ground station AOS
06:03:45 PM...05...17...29...40...Sunrise
06:08:51 PM...05...17...34...46...Arrive at S4 Holdpoint
06:17:57 PM...05...17...43...52...Russian ground station LOS
06:21:51 PM...05...17...47...46...Depart S4 Holdpoint
06:24:21 PM...05...17...50...16...Arrive at S41 Holdpoint
06:29:21 PM...05...17...55...16...Depart S41 Holdpoint
06:32:19 PM...05...17...58...14...Noon (Beta=20.6 deg)
06:32:51 PM...05...17...58...46...DOCKING
06:32:51 PM...05...17...58...46...ISS Free Drift
06:45:00 PM...05...18...10...55...Ku-band Antenna Mask Disable
06:47:00 PM...05...18...12...55...ISS Maneuver to TEA LVLH
07:00:55 PM...05...18...26...50...Sunset
07:15:16 PM...05...18...41...11...DO2 Node
07:25:00 PM...05...18...50...55...ISS Transition to Standard Mode
07:28:37 PM...05...18...54...32...Russian ground station AOS
07:32:00 PM...05...18...57...55...Handover RS to US Momentum Mgmt
07:32:00 PM...05...18...57...55...Unlock Aft BGAs
07:36:04 PM...05...19...01...59...Sunrise
07:52:00 PM...05...19...17...55...BGAs to Autotrack
07:53:05 PM...05...19...19...00...Russian ground station LOS
08:02:00 PM...05...19...27...55...Unlock SARJ
08:32:00 PM...05...19...57...55...SARJ to Autotrack
08:33:14 PM...05...19...59...09...Sunset