Jules Verne Is Highly Competent

The European Space Agency (ESA) has reported that the Jules Verne ATV approached the International Space Station to within 11-m of the docking port on the Russian Zvezda module. The approach was part of a second ATV demonstration day which clears the way for the first rendezvous and docking attempt on April 3rd. The maneuvers included the first demo of the critical optical navigation system, using the European-developed Videometer technology. It was confirmed that ATV can use this system to autonomously navigate to within 11-m of the ISS. Controllers at the ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC) in Toulouse, France, also confirmed they could issue very specific commands to Jules Verne, including Hold Retreat and Resume. These commands may have to be issued if any unforeseen problems occur in the ATV’s automatic guidance system. The demo also included the first active participation of the ISS crew in the mission. Once ATV had reached the 11-m stand-off point, the astronauts were instructed to issue a Retreat command, bringing Jules Verne back to the 19-m point. The crew then issued an Escape command, which automatically took Jules Verne to a safe location away from the ISS. The close approach to the ISS presented the ATV team with an opportunity to inspect some thermal blankets on the exterior of the spacecraft that had become degraded. Data collected during Demonstration Day 2 will be made available to ISS managers for their go-ahead to proceed with a first docking attempt this coming Thursday. Jules Verne ATV is scheduled to dock with ISS at 16:41 CEST (14:41 UT) on April 3rd.