Managers of the International Space Station on Wednesday cleared Europe’s new Jules Verne cargo ship for its first docking with the orbiting research outpost.
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A New Supply Ship for the Space Station
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After assessing results of two days of trial maneuvers around the station, including having the two craft close to within 36 feet of one another, the Mission Management Team of international partners in the project gave approval for an attempt on Thursday to link the ships.
The Jules Verne, named for the visionary French author, is the first of a new class of robot station supply ships called Automatic Transfer Vehicles or A.T.V.’s. The robot ship was built by the member nations of the European Space Agency as one of Europe’s major contributions to the international station.
“We have proven that Jules Verne’s systems are safe, reliable and ready to dock to the station,” John Ellwood, the A.T.V. Project Manager for Europe said after getting approval to proceed. “Everyone has worked very hard to get to this point.”
The Jules Verne is scheduled to dock with the station’s Russian-built Zvezda service module on Thursday at 10:41 a.m. Eastern time, and then firmly lock in place about a half-hour later. If for some reason the linkup does not occur as planned, the next attempt will be made on Saturday, Mr. Ellwood said.
The ship is to maneuver and dock itself automatically using Global Positioning System satellite navigation, as well as a new optical guidance system for close approach to the station. A twin laser system is to fire pulses of light at reflectors positioned on the end of Zvezda to determine the craft’s orientation, distance and closing rate to the space station.
While the autonomous operation should be controlled by the spacecraft’s sensors and computers, the rendezvous and docking will be monitored from a control center in Toulouse, France, in cooperation with the Russian space station control center near Moscow and the NASA center in Houston.
Aboard the station, the Russian astronaut, Col. Yuri I. Malenchenko, backed up by the American station commander, Peggy A. Whitson, will be at a control panel where he can send commands to the Jules Verne to make an emergency retreat in case something goes wrong.
Extra precautions are necessary because the robot ship, which weighs 21 tons on Earth, could do substantial damage to the station in a collision or other mishap. Space station managers are mindful of a June 1997 incident when a Progress cargo craft, much smaller than the Jules Verne, slammed into the Russian Mir space station during a docking test, causing serious damage that almost led to abandoning the station.
The Jules Verne, launched on March 9, has been orbiting near the space station, checking out its systems and awaiting last week’s departure of the Space Shuttle Endeavour before conducting a series of approach and avoidance tests with the station last Saturday and Monday.
The cargo craft, which is 32 feet long and 14.6 feet wide at its largest diameter, is equipped with four solar arrays arranged in an X shape spanning 73 feet. It has four large aft engines and a series of smaller thrusters for maneuvering and fine control.
The Jules Verne is the first of at least five robot cargo craft that the Europeans will dispatch to the station. It is carrying 7.5 tons of fuel, oxygen, food, clothing, equipment and other essentials. Because the mission is considered a test flight, station controllers did not include any irreplaceable or one-of-a-kind cargo on this mission, said Michael Suffredini, NASA’s station program manager.
The European vessels can each carry up to 10 tons of cargo, three times the capacity of a Progress, so it will be able to play an increasingly significant role in resupplying the station, particularly after American space shuttles retire at the end of 2010, Mr. Suffredini he said.
The Jules Verne is scheduled to remain docked with the station for at least six months, with astronauts gradually removing its cargo as it is needed, and depositing tons of waste material in the ship that will burn up in the atmosphere with the spacecraft when it departs.
While at the station, Jules Verne will use its engines to raise the station to a higher orbit and maneuver the complex, if needed, to avoid space debris.