ATV 3 (Edoardo Amaldi)

ESA

Spacecraft nº:

ESA spacecraft nº: 76

ATV= Automated Transfer Vehicle

Launch, orbit & landing data:

Designation	38096 / 12010A
Launch date - time	23 Mar 2012 - 04:34 UT
Launch site	Kourou, ELA-3
Launch vehicle	Ariane-5ES (L553-VA205)
Mass (kg)	19714 kg
Dry Mass (kg)	9778 kg
Total cargo mass (kg)	kg
Earth orbit on Mar 25:
- Perigee / Apogee	274 x 294 km
- Eccentricity
- Inclination	51.6°
- Period	92.4 min

Docking date - time	28 Mar 2012 - 22:31:17 UT
Target spacecraft/port	ISS/Zvezda aft port
Docking orbit on Apr 05:
- Perigee / Apogee	387 x 398 km
- Inclination	51.6°
- Period	min
Undocking date - time	28 Sept 2012 - 21:44 UT
Deorbited date - time	02 Oct 2012 - 23:42 UT
Descent date - time	03 Oct 2012 - 01:25 UT
Flight Duration (dd:hh:min)
Nbr orbits

Description:

The Edoardo Amaldi ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 003 (ATV-3), is a European unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft named after the 20th-century Italian physicist Edoardo Amaldi. The mission is to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo. It is the third ATV to be built, following the Jules Verne and the Johannes Kepler, which were launched in 2008 and 2011 respectively.
Satellite manufactured by EADS Astrium, leading a consortium that included Thales Alenia Space (Italy), Contraves (Switzerland) and Dutch Space (Netherlands). The ATV comprises two main sections: the pressurised cargo carrier and the spacecraft section, the latter carrying the avionics, propulsions system, solar panels, etc. Diameter of the module is 4.48 metres, overall length 9.79 metres (10.77 metres including the Separation and Distancing Module). Four vanes of solar panels are deployed in orbit, with a span of 22.28 metres.

ATV-3 factsheet

Preparations:

ATV3 was delivered to the Spaceport for final launch preparations in late August 2011 after a three week journey aboard the MN Toucan - one of two Sea Vessels that Arianespace uses to transport hardware from Europe to South America. ATV was shipped from Bremerhaven, Germany, along with various components needed for Ground Support during the final preparations phase. Once at the spacecport, ATV3 was delivered to the S5C cleanroom Facility for Processing. Cargo Loading for the Mission got underway in November as 2,450 Kilograms of dry cargo had to be stowed inside the vehicle. Items loaded aboard the spacecraft include experiment hardware, personal astronaut equipment such as clothing and personal belongings, hygiene material and food as well as other supplies needed for daily life aboard the orbiting complex. The dry cargo is loaded into the vehicle in special bags that are placed in payload racks of the Integrated Cargo Carrier so that the center of mass of the spacecraft can be calculated for on-orbit maneuvers. Fueling of the Vehicle will take place over the course of January 2012. On January 6, ATV3 is going to be delivered to the Fueling Facility where hazardous fueling procedures will take place. The Vehicle will carry 2,200kg of fuel that is needed for its journey to and from ISS, 2,500kg will be used while docked with the Station for regular Reboosts and attitude control and 860kg will be stored inside ATV’s Tanks for transfer over to the Russian Segment of the ISS for future use by the Complex itself. The fueling operation is scheduled to take several weeks.
In total, ATV3 will carry 6,960 Kilograms of cargo.

Photo: ESA/Arianespace

During Jan 2011, fueling Operations for the third Automated Transfer Vehicle are underway at the Kourou Spaceport inside the S5B hazardous processing facility which is part of the S5 Payload Preparation Facility of the Space Center.
A total of 6,060 Kilograms of Fuel will be loaded aboard the vehicle. Four types of toxic fuel and oxidizer are being tanked as the ATV will be using fuel for its own engines but also it is also going to carry propellants for use by the Russian Propulsion System on the International Space Station. This causes the fueling process to last for several weeks as all the propellants have to be tested in laboratories before being loaded into the spacecraft. Also, some fuels require additional processing before being ready to fly on ATV.

Automated Transfer Vehicle Edoardo Amaldi is moved to the Ariane integration building in Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. From there it will be loaded onto an Ariane 5 rocket for launch in March 2012.
Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Video du CSG - P.Baudon

The Automated Transfer Vehicle, already closed up inside the nose of an Ariane 5 rocket, was scheduled to launch March 9.
But managers reviewing the readiness of the mission ordered a delay to give workers time to cinch two loose straps on two cargo bags.
The Ariane 5 launcher's payload fairing, which was lowered on top of the ATV spacecraft Feb. 27, will be removed and technicians will open the ship's forward hatch to enter its pressurized compartment.
Workers use a special mechanical elevator to be lowered inside the ATV when the craft is vertical on top of the Ariane launcher. It will take several days to remove the fairing, install the access equipment, open the hatch and enter the ATV.
Most of the supplies inside the ship's cabin were loaded in late 2011, but workers added 1,280 pounds of so-called late cargo in February, while the ATV was already on top of its Ariane 5 rocket.

A technicians loads cargo into the Automated Transfer Vehicle in February. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace

Mission payload:

Cargo	Mass
ISS reboost/attitude control propellant	3,150 kilograms (6,900 lb)
ISS refuel propellant	860 kilograms (1,900 lb)
Oxygen gas	100 kilograms (220 lb)
Water	285 kilograms (630 lb)
Dry cargo (food, clothes, equipment)	2,200 kilograms (4,900 lb)
Total	6,595 kilograms (14,540 lb)

Source: ESA
The ATV also carried a reproduction of a letter written by its namesake, Edoardo Amaldi, in 1958. This document, whose original is of significant historical value, reflects Amaldi's vision of a peaceful and non-military European space organisation.

Mission details:

On March 21, 2012 Ariane and ATV Edoardo Amaldi were rolled out to the launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. The total vehicle mass is 777 tonnes, the heaviest ever for an Ariane. This ATV is also the rocket’s heaviest payload so far.
The third European ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle), the Edoardo Amaldi, was launched on Mar 23, 2012. Ariane vehicle 553 placed the ATV with the EPS upper stage in a -1260 x 140 km trajectory at 0443 UTC; the EPC core stage impacted the eastern Atlantic. A first EPS stage burn put the mission in a 136 x 256 km orbit at 0451 UTC, and a second burn at 0533 UTC circularized the orbit at around 260 x 260 km. The EPS separated and was deorbited over the South Pacific at around 0700 UTC.
On Mar 25 the ATV-3 was in a 274 x 294 km x 51.6 deg orbit. ATV 3 is named after Edoardo Amaldi (1908-1989) who was a co-founder of CERN and of ESA's precursor ESRO. It has a mass of 19714 kg.
ATV 3 docked with the aft Zvezda port on the Station at 2231 UTC on Mar 28. On Mar 31 at 2154 UTC the ATV OCS engines were used to perform a small 1.7 km reboost of the Station's orbit; a larger reboost on Apr 5 put the Station in a 387 x 398 km x 51.6 deg orbit.

ATV-3 approch ISS

ATV-3 docking
The European cargo ship ATV-3 ′Edoardo Amaldi′ undocked at 2144 UTC on Sep 28, 2012 and was deorbited over the Pacific at 2342 UTC on Oct 2, with loss of signal at 0125 UTC on Oct 3.
It will perform a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean, taking with it a payload of station waste.