The European Space Agency's Autonomous Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is an automatically piloted robot cargo craft that supplies the International Space Station. Launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket (shown at right in the infographic above), the ATV can take from several days up to about three weeks to catch up to and dock with the space station.
Final ATV Cargo Spacecraft Launched To Space Station | Video
The ATV spacecraft consists of two modules, the Integrated Cargo Carrier at the front, which contains both dry and fluid cargo, and a service module. A pressurized cabin allows astronauts on the International Space Station to access the cargo in a comfortable environment.
The ATV-5 mission carries a video camera to document the breakup of the vehicle as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. Cameras have often been put aboard spacecraft to document the performance of components. For example, a camera inside the second stage of the Saturn V rocket documented the jettisoning of the first stage of the vehicle. The ATV-5 mission will mark the first time that a camera has witnessed the atmospheric breakup of a vehicle from the inside.
Photos: Europe's ATV Robotic Space Cargo Ships
Space Station's Robotic Cargo Ship Fleet (A Photo Guide)
ATV-5: Europe's Heaviest Space Launch Ever (Video)
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