Source: ESA.
ESA’s third automated space freighter, Edoardo Amaldi, will carry about two tonnes of dry cargo, 285 kg of water and more than three tonnes of propellants to the International Space Station.
ESA’s third Automated Transfer Vehicle, Edoardo Amaldi, is ready for launch to the International Space Station. ESA’s formal Launch Readiness Review on Monday revealed no problems with the vessel. Launch is set for this Friday at 04:34 GMT (05:34 CET).
The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is the largest cargo vessel supplying the International Space Station with food, water supplies and propellants.
On March 20, 2012, Arianespace conducted their readiness review for the Ariane 5 mission, VA205, that will deliver ATV to orbit. It, too, is cleared for flight. On March 21, Ariane and ATV Edoardo Amaldi will be rolled 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.
![A trajectory analysis that used a computational fluid dynamics approach to determine the likely position and velocity histories of the foam (Credits: NASA Ref [1] p61).](https://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/fluid-dynamics-trajectory-analysis-50x50.jpg)
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