Menu
Home Explore People Places Arts History Plants & Animals Science Life & Culture Technology
On this page
Edoardo Amaldi ATV
European uncrewed cargo resupply spacecraft

The Edoardo Amaldi ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 003 (ATV-003), was a European uncrewed cargo spacecraft, named after the 20th-century Italian physicist Edoardo Amaldi. The spacecraft was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) on 23 March 2012, on a mission to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, oxygen, and dry cargo.

Edoardo Amaldi was the third ATV to be built, following Jules Verne (2008) and Johannes Kepler (2011). At the time of its launch, it was the world's largest single operational spacecraft, with a total launch mass of over 20 tonnes (44,000 lb). The ATV completed its mission successfully, and was deorbited on 3 October 2012, burning up in the Earth's atmosphere as planned.

Related Image Collections Add Image
Profiles
1 Image
We don't have any YouTube videos related to Edoardo Amaldi ATV yet.
We don't have any PDF documents related to Edoardo Amaldi ATV yet.
We don't have any Books related to Edoardo Amaldi ATV yet.
We don't have any archived web articles related to Edoardo Amaldi ATV yet.

Mission payload

CargoMass
ISSreboost/attitudecontrol propellant3,150 kilograms (6,940 lb)
ISSrefuel propellant860 kilograms (1,900 lb)
Oxygen gas100 kilograms (220 lb)
Water285 kilograms (628 lb)
Dry cargo(food, clothes, equipment)2,200 kilograms (4,900 lb)
Total6,595 kilograms (14,539 lb)
Source: ESA6

Amaldi letter

In addition to its primary cargo, the ATV 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 – a blueprint for the real-life ESA.

Mission summary

Launch

Edoardo Amaldi arrived at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, in August 2011 to undergo pre-launch preparations. The spacecraft was mounted on an Ariane 5ES rocket, and was launched on 23 March 2012 by Arianespace on behalf of the European Space Agency.

Docking

The ATV docked with the ISS on 28 March 2012, five days after its launch. In addition to resupplying the Expedition 30 astronauts, Edoardo Amaldi used its thrusters to boost the station's altitude.78

Deorbit

The ATV was initially planned to undock from the ISS on 25 September 2012.910 However, a command program error during the undocking procedure delayed the release,11 and Edoardo Amaldi did not actually undock until 21:44 GMT on 28 September.12 The spacecraft finally deorbited and performed a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean on 3 October 2012, taking with it a payload of station waste.13

ATV missions

DesignationNameLaunch dateISS docking dateDeorbit dateSources
ATV-1Jules Verne9 March 20083 April 200829 September 2008

14

ATV-2Johannes Kepler16 February 201124 February 201121 July 2011

15

ATV-3Edoardo Amaldi23 March 201228 March 20123 October 201216

17

ATV-4Albert Einstein5 June 201315 June 20132 November 2013

1819

ATV-5Georges Lemaître29 July 2014202112 August 20142215 February 201523

2425

  • view
  • talk
  • edit

See also

  • Spaceflight portal
Similar cargo spacecraft Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edoardo Amaldi (spacecraft).

References

  1. "Third ATV named after Edoardo Amaldi". ESA. 16 March 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010. http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMMXBCKP6G_index_0.html ↩

  2. "Space station cargo delivery delayed about two weeks". Spaceflight Now. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ariane/va205/120302delay/ ↩

  3. "ATV-4 to carry name Albert Einstein". ESA. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011. http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMKZDNSNNG_index_0.html ↩

  4. "Edoardo Amaldi Blog". ESA. 3 March 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120220170153/http://blogs.esa.int/atv/ ↩

  5. "ATV-3 Cargo: the world's largest spacecraft". ESA Online Videos. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012. http://multimedia.esa.int/Videos/2012/03/ATV-3-CARGO-the-World-s-largest-spacecraft ↩

  6. "Information Kit: ATV Edoardo Amaldi" (PDF). ESA. 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012. http://download.esa.int/docs/ATV/Information_kit_ATV-3_FINAL.pdf ↩

  7. "ISS orbit boosted by ATV Edoardo Amaldi". ESA. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2012. http://blogs.esa.int/promisse/2012/04/02/iss-orbit-boost-atv-31march/ ↩

  8. "NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 22 May 2012". NASA. 22 May 2012. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2012 – via SpaceRef.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20211001060851/http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=40906 ↩

  9. "Europe's third cargo vehicle docks with the Space Station". ESA – ATV. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV/SEMUASGY50H_0.html ↩

  10. "Fun stuff – Edoardo Amaldi". ESA – ATV. August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012. http://blogs.esa.int/atv/category/fun-stuff/ ↩

  11. "ATV undocking postponed". ESA – ATV. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV/SEMT2QDRI7H_0.html ↩

  12. "ATV-3 undocks from ISS". ESA – ATV. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012. http://blogs.esa.int/atv/2012/09/28/atv-3-undocks-from-iss/ ↩

  13. "Mission accomplished for ATV Edoardo Amaldi" (Press release). ESA. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/For_Media/Press_Releases/Mission_accomplished_for_ATV_Edoardo_Amaldi ↩

  14. "ATV-1: Jules Verne". ESA – ATV. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/ATV/ATV-1_i_Jules_Verne_i ↩

  15. "ATV-2: Johannes Kepler". ESA – ATV. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/ATV/ATV-2_i_Johannes_Kepler_i ↩

  16. "Mission accomplished for ATV Edoardo Amaldi" (Press release). ESA. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/For_Media/Press_Releases/Mission_accomplished_for_ATV_Edoardo_Amaldi ↩

  17. "ATV-3: Edoardo Amaldi". ESA – ATV. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/ATV/ATV-3_i_Edoardo_Amaldi_i ↩

  18. "ATV Albert Einstein" (AdobeFlash). ESA. April 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://esamultimedia.esa.int/HSO/Publications/ATV4-EN/ ↩

  19. "ATV-4: Albert Einstein". ESA – ATV. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/ATV/ATV-4_i_Albert_Einstein_i ↩

  20. "ATV completes final automated docking". ESA – ATV. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/ATV_completes_final_automated_docking ↩

  21. "Last ATV reentry leaves legacy for future space exploration". ESA – ATV. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/ATV/Last_ATV_reentry_leaves_legacy_for_future_space_exploration ↩

  22. "ATV completes final automated docking". ESA – ATV. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/ATV_completes_final_automated_docking ↩

  23. "Last ATV reentry leaves legacy for future space exploration". ESA – ATV. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/ATV/Last_ATV_reentry_leaves_legacy_for_future_space_exploration ↩

  24. "Fifth ATV named after Georges Lemaitre". ESA – ATV. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/ATV/Fifth_ATV_named_after_Georges_Lemaitre ↩

  25. "Europe's Space Freighter" (AdobeFlash). ESA. 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018. http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/publications/ATV_brochure_EN/ ↩