Europe's ATV-5 Space Cargo Ship Mission in Pictures

ATV-5 Thumbs Up

A technician working on the European Space Agency’s fifth and last Automated Transfer Vehicle, named Georges Lemaître, gives the thumbs-up after loading cargo into Europe’s largest spacecraft. Image released July 23, 2014.

ATV-5 Hatch Closed

A red protective cover sits in place over the hatch of the European Space Agency’s fifth and last Automated Transfer Vehicle, Georges Lemaître. Image released July 23, 2014.

ATV-5 Integration

The European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-5), Georges Lemaître, undergoes integration in Bremen, Germany, before being shipped to Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Image released March 17, 2014.

ATV-5 Late Cargo Loading

An ATV technician places supplies in the cargo hold through the main hatch. Image released July 23, 2014.

Body-Mounted Astronaut Joystick

Body-mounted astronaut joystick for the Haptics-1 experiment, developed by ESA's Telerobotics and Haptics Laboratory as part of the multi-agency Meteron (Multi-Purpose End-to-End Robotic Operation Network) initiative, investigating telerobotics for space. The Haptics-1 experiment is being flown to the ISS by ATV-5 in summer 2014.

Simulated View of Space Station

A simulated image depicts how ATV-5’s technology demonstrator will "see" the International Space Station using lidar, which is the light equivalent of radar. The LIRIS demonstrator (Laser Infrared Imaging Sensors) on the last Automated Transfer Vehicle, or ATV-5, marks the first step towards the ability to rendezvous in space with "uncooperative" targets. Image released March 17, 2014.

ATV Shielding After Impact Test

This cool space wallpaper shows an exit hole through Kevlar–Nextel fabric after hypervelocity testing of the multilayer shielding for ESA’s ATV space freighter, simulating an impact by space debris.