Georges Lemaître ATV
# Georges Lemaître ATV

The Georges Lemaître ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 5 (ATV-5), was a European uncrewed cargo spacecraft, named after the Belgian astronomer Georges Lemaître. The spacecraft was launched during the night of 29 July 2014 (23:44 GMT, 20:44 local time, 30 July 01:44 CEST), on a mission to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo. It was the fifth and final ATV to be built and launched. 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.

Artist Katie Paterson sent artwork to the International Space Station aboard ATV-5.

## Mission payload

Georges Lemaître ferried 6.6 tonnes of experiments, spare parts, clothing, food, fuel, air, oxygen and water to the ISS. Included was a Haptics-1 joystick which is an advanced force feedback joystick to be used for physiological experiments on tactile feedback.

In addition to transporting 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 - the ATV used a demonstration version of this advanced sensor system instead of the standard optical sensors bouncing light off the reflectors around ISS docking port.

Break-Up Camera recorded the ATV in infrared as it disintegrated during atmospheric reentry above the Pacific Ocean. After completion of recording, a reinforced SatCom capsule doubling as a prototype "black box" began transmitting the recorded data to one of the Iridium satellites through the gap in plasma behind the vehicle. One message was received, which included accelerometer, magnetometer and temperature readings. Transmission of the nearly 6000 images, which were apparently successfully recorded, would have involved further messages. It was unclear why but none of these were received.

| Cargo | Mass |
| - | - |
| Dry Cargo | 2,695 kilograms (5,941 lb) |
| Water | 843 kilograms (1,858 lb) |
| Oxygen (2 tanks) & Air (1 tank) | 100 kilograms (220 lb) |
| Propellant | 4,356 kilograms (9,603 lb) (includes 2,118 kilograms (4,669 lb) ISS prop support) |
| Refuelling propellant | 860 kilograms (1,896 lb) |
| Total cargo | 8,854 kilograms (19,520 lb) |
| Total launch mass | 20,235 kilograms (44,611 lb) |

## ATV missions

| Designation | Name | Launch date | ISS docking date | Deorbit date | Sources |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| ATV-1 | Jules Verne | 9 March 2008 | 3 April 2008 | 29 September 2008 | |
| ATV-2 | Johannes Kepler | 16 February 2011 | 24 February 2011 | 21 July 2011 | |
| ATV-3 | Edoardo Amaldi | 23 March 2012 | 28 March 2012 | 3 October 2012 | |
| ATV-4 | Albert Einstein | 5 June 2013 | 15 June 2013 | 2 November 2013 | [17] [18] |
| ATV-5 | Georges Lemaître | 29 July 2014 | 12 August 2014 | 15 February 2015 | [21] [22] |
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