Georges Lemaître ATV

The Georges Lemaître ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 5 (ATV-5), was a European uncrewed cargo spacecraft, named after the Belgian astronomer Georges Lemaître.^[3] The spacecraft was launched during the night of 29 July 2014 (23:44 GMT, 20:44 local time, 30 July 01:44 CEST),^[4] on a mission to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo. It was the fifth and final ATV to be built and launched. Georges Lemaître was constructed in Turin, Italy, and Bremen, Germany. Cargo loading was completed in Guiana Space Center on 23 July 2014.^[5]

Georges Lemaître ATV

Georges Lemaître ATV on approach for docking to the ISS on 12 August 2014
Mission type	ISS resupply
Operator	European Space Agency
COSPAR ID	2014-044A
SATCAT no.	40103
Mission duration	6 months
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	ATV
Manufacturer	Airbus Defence and Space Thales Alenia Space
Launch mass	20,293 kilograms (44,738 lb)[1]
Start of mission
Launch date	29 July 2014, 23:47:38 (2014-07-29UTC23:47:38Z) UTC
Rocket	Ariane 5ES
Launch site	Kourou ELA-3
Contractor	Arianespace
End of mission
Disposal	Deorbited
Decay date	15 February 2015, 18:04 (2015-02-15UTC18:05Z) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	412 kilometres (256 mi)[2]
Apogee altitude	422 kilometres (262 mi)[2]
Inclination	51.65 degrees[2]
Period	92.77 minutes[2]
Epoch	14 December 2014, 02:33:36 UTC[2]
Docking with ISS
Docking port	Zvezda Aft
Docking date	12 August 2014, 13:30 UTC
Undocking date	14 February 2015, 13:42 UTC
Time docked	186 days, 0 hour, 12 minutes
Cargo
Mass	6,555 kilograms (14,451 lb)
Pressurised	2,622 kilograms (5,781 lb)
Fuel	2,978 kilograms (6,565 lb)
Gaseous	100 kilograms (220 lb)
Water	855 kilograms (1,885 lb)
← ATV-4

Georges Lemaître was launched on an Ariane 5ES rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch was conducted by Arianespace on behalf of the European Space Agency.

Artist Katie Paterson sent artwork to the International Space Station aboard ATV-5.^[6][7][8]

Mission payload

Georges Lemaître ferried 6.6 tonnes of experiments, spare parts, clothing, food, fuel, air, oxygen and water to the ISS. Included was a Haptics-1 joystick which is an advanced force feedback joystick to be used for physiological experiments on tactile feedback.^[5][9]

In addition to transporting cargo ATV-5 performed 2 experiments:

LIRIS (Laser InfraRed Imaging Sensors) was a new autonomous rendezvous sensor set that allowed future ships to dock with uncooperative targets, like debris or sample capsules - the ATV used a demonstration version of this advanced sensor system instead of the standard optical sensors bouncing light off the reflectors around ISS docking port.^[10]

Break-Up Camera recorded the ATV in infrared as it disintegrated during atmospheric reentry above the Pacific Ocean. After completion of recording, a reinforced SatCom capsule doubling as a prototype "black box" began transmitting the recorded data to one of the Iridium satellites through the gap in plasma behind the vehicle. One message was received, which included accelerometer, magnetometer and temperature readings. Transmission of the nearly 6000 images, which were apparently successfully recorded, would have involved further messages. It was unclear why but none of these were received.^[11]

Cargo	Mass[12]
Dry Cargo	2,695 kilograms (5,941 lb)
Water	843 kilograms (1,858 lb)
Oxygen (2 tanks) & Air (1 tank)	100 kilograms (220 lb)
Propellant	4,356 kilograms (9,603 lb) (includes 2,118 kilograms (4,669 lb) ISS prop support)
Refuelling propellant	860 kilograms (1,896 lb)
Total cargo	8,854 kilograms (19,520 lb)
Total launch mass	20,235 kilograms (44,611 lb)

ATV missions

Designation	Name	Launch date	ISS docking date	Deorbit date	Sources
ATV-1	Jules Verne	9 March 2008	3 April 2008	29 September 2008	[13]
ATV-2	Johannes Kepler	16 February 2011	24 February 2011	21 July 2011	[14]
ATV-3	Edoardo Amaldi	23 March 2012	28 March 2012	3 October 2012[15]	[16]
ATV-4	Albert Einstein	5 June 2013	15 June 2013	2 November 2013	[17] [18]
ATV-5	Georges Lemaître	29 July 2014[19][20]	12 August 2014[19]	15 February 2015[20]	[21] [22]
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