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Cargo vessel docks with space station


    PARIS (Reuters) - A European supply vessel carrying more than five tonnes of freight docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday in a major advance for Europe's space programme.

    Officials of the European Space Agency (ESA) said thedocking of Europe's first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) at2:55 p.m. British time was a flawless operation. It eased intoplace without any intervention from astronauts in the spacestation.

    "I'm completely flabbergasted," ESA Director Jean-JacquesDourdain said at a control centre in Toulouse, France.

    "I knew it would be extraordinary, but to succeed like thaton the first try ... I think it's an incredible technicalfeat," Dourdain said.

    Named "Jules Verne" in honour of the visionary 19th centuryFrench science fiction writer, officials are counting on theATV programme, in which $2 billion (1 billion pounds) has beeninvested so far, to open the way to further European spaceexploration.

    "One of the strategic reasons why the ESA was so keen tohave its own ATV was that this technology is exactly the kindyou need to go and rendezvous with Mars," John Ellwood, ESA'sATV Project Manager, said in a webcast.

    "We are going to have to have automatic rendezvous anddocking near Mars. And ATV shows that the technology works andthat we can do it in Europe," Ellwood said.

    KEY LIFELINE

    The ATV, built by a consortium led by the space unit ofaerospace group EADS, carries three times as much cargo asRussia's Progress vehicle and will play a key role supplyingthe ISS once the current generation of space shuttles is phasedout.

    Thursday's docking with the ISS was overseen by controlstations in France, the United States and Russia. The twovehicles travelled at 28,000 km (17,400 miles) per hour,underlining the technical challenge of the manoeuvre.

    The ATV was launched aboard an Ariane-5 rocket fromEurope's spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana on the northeastcoast of South America on March 9. It is carrying supplies andfuel as well as two original manuscripts of Jules Verne novels.

    Docking with the ISS was not possible until the spaceshuttle Endeavour left the station last week.

    The Jules Verne will remain docked to the space station forsix months as astronauts remove its cargo and fill it withrubbish from the station. It will then be thrust back towardearth, burning up on re-entry into the atmosphere.

    As well as serving as a space supply truck, the ATV willalso be used as a "space jack".

    Residual gravity from the earth causes the space station tofall about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) a month. The Jules Verne willignite thrusters to lift the station back to a higher altitude.

    The space station, which is about 60 percent complete, is a$100 billion project by 15 nations. Next year, the station'screw size is expected to double from three to six members.

    The ISS has been criticised over the costs of keepingastronauts in space. Critics say unmanned space explorationwould achieve similar scientific results at a lower cost.

    (Reporting by Alexander Miles; editing by Andrew Roche)