Refuelling with Jules Verne
In a European first, the European Space Agency's (ESA) automated transfer vehicle (ATV), Jules Verne was used to refuel the International Space Station orbiting the Earth at 28,000 km/h. This is the first time a western spaceship has succeeded in refuelling another space infrastructure in orbit. For Jean-François Clervoy, ATV senior advisor and a member of ESA's Astronaut Corps this event is a monumental step for the European space programme. 'Today, Europe has gained a new space capability which represents a new step towards human spaceflights and advanced exploration programmes,' he commented. He added that the Jules Verne ATV is also 'the only western vehicle able to refuel another spacecraft in complement to the Russian Progress. The successful automation of this function frees significant crew time for other ISS operations.' The process of transferring the 811 kg of refuelling propellant to the International Space Station took little under half an hour and was prepared by the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France. The refuelling operation was overseen at Moscow Control Centre where three ESA and five Russian ATV experts were on hand. Another 30 people were monitoring the ATV's critical functions from ATV Control Centre Toulouse where cheers and applause marked the end of the fuel transfer. 'We are impressed by this new achievement of Jules Verne ATV, which went without a hitch,' commented Massimo Cislaghi, ESA's leader of the Engineering Support Team. 'And we really have to congratulate the teams [...] for their years of efforts to integrate the Russian refuelling system in the ATV from the hardware and software point of view.' The Jules Verne ATV was launched from Kourou in French Guiana on 9 March 2008 and docked to the International Space Station on 3 April 2008. Since then it has met and exceeded all expectations. Just last April, it was used by the first South Korean Female Astronaut, Yi So-yeon, to conduct her experiments. Jules Verne is expected to leave the space station in September, taking with it approximately 6.3 tonnes of waste material from the station. Once it leaves the station it will re-enter the atmosphere in a controlled re-entry over the Pacific Ocean where it will burn up along with its cargo of waste material.