- 16:49 06 June 2013 by Celeste Biever
- For similar stories, visit the Picture of the day and Space flight Topic Guides
(Image:ESA/S. Corvaja)
Albert Einstein the man was a
heavyweight of science, and so is the spaceship that bears his name. The
juggernaut is the heaviest yet of a fleet of Automated Transfer
Vehicles (ATVs) built and operated by the European Space Agency.
The picture above shows Einstein
lifting off yesterday from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana,
propelled by an Ariane 5 rocket. Now the uncrewed spaceship is parked in
orbit 260 kilometres above Earth's surface, preparing to dock with the
International Space Station in nine days' time.
The ATV fleet first took to the skies in 2008 with the launch of Jules Verne. The roll call of famous science-related Europeans continued with Johannes Kepler in 2011 and Edoardo Amaldi last year. The fifth and final ATV, Georges Lemaître, is scheduled for launch next year.
At 20,190 kilograms, Albert Einstein
is the heaviest ATV yet, outweighing its immediate predecessor by 150
kg. Its cargo includes 2580 kg of propellants for reboosting the
station's orbit and 860 kg more destined for the tanks of its Russian
Zvezda module. It will also carry 570 kg of drinking water and 100 kg of
oxygen and air to sustain the ISS's crew. After delivering its
supplies, the craft will, like its predecessors, be filled with
space-station garbage and sent down to burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
Despite their evocative names and
pioneering docking technology, the ATVs have played a mundane, though
essential, role so far. But their contribution to future space flight
could be more glamorous. If ESA and NASA plans come good, they will live
on in the form of the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle, designed to take astronauts to deep space. It is a NASA project, but last year the US space agency announced that Europe would provide crucial technology derived from the ATV.
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