Georges Lemaître ATV on approach for docking to the ISS on August 12, 2014
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Mission type | ISS resupply |
---|---|
Operator | European Space Agency |
COSPAR ID | 2014-044A |
SATCAT no. | 40103 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | ATV |
Manufacturer |
Airbus Defence and Space Thales Alenia Space |
Launch mass | 20,293 kilograms (44,738 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 29 July 2014, 23:47:38 | UTC
Rocket | Ariane 5ES |
Launch site | Kourou ELA-3 |
Contractor | Arianespace |
End of mission | |
Disposal | Deorbited |
Decay date | 15 February 2015, 18:04 | UTC
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Perigee | 412 kilometres (256 mi) |
Apogee | 422 kilometres (262 mi) |
Inclination | 51.65 degrees |
Period | 92.77 minutes |
Epoch | 14 December 2014, 02:33:36 UTC |
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) |
The Georges Lemaître ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 5 (ATV-5), was a European unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft, named after the Belgian astronomer Georges Lemaître. The spacecraft was launched during the night of 29 July (23:44 GMT, 20:44 local time, 30 July 01:44 CEST), 2014, on a mission to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo. It is the fifth and final ATV to be built, following the Albert Einstein, which launched on 5 June 2013. Georges Lemaître was constructed in Turin, Italy, and Bremen, Germany. Cargo loading was completed in Guiana Space Center on 23 July 2014.
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. This is the final planned launch of the Automated Transfer Vehicle.
Artist Katie Paterson sent artwork to the International Space Station aboard ATV-5.
Georges Lemaitre ferried 6.6 tonnes of experiments, spare parts, clothing, food, fuel, air, oxygen and water to the ISS. In addition to the usual 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 - Georges Lemaître used a demonstration version of it instead of standard optical sensors bouncing light off the reflectors around ISS docking port.