Jules Verne ATV - Docked Operations

Docked Operations

After docking and leak checks were conducted, the ISS crew was able to enter the pressurised cargo module and access the cargo. The ATV's liquid tanks were connected to the ISS, and their contents were transferred to the station. The crew manually released air components directly into the ISS's atmosphere. The ISS crew gradually replaced the ATV's cargo with waste for disposal. In addition, 270 kilograms (600 lb) of water, 21 kilograms (46 lb) of oxygen and 856 kilograms (1,890 lb) of propellant was transferred to the Zvezda module, and Jules Verne was also used to reboost the space station on four occasions. About 1,150 kilograms (2,500 lb) of dry cargo was removed from the ATV and remained aboard the ISS.

Two original manuscripts by Jules Verne, as well as an illustrated 19th century Hetzel French language edition of From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon, were flown aboard the spacecraft, and were successfully delivered to the crew of the International Space Station.

The thrusters of Jules Verne were fired for just over 5 minutes on 27 August 2008 at 16:11 UTC to conduct a debris avoidance manoeuvre. By slowing the station by approximately 1 m/s (2.2 mph), the altitude of the station was lowered by approximately 1.77 km (1.10 mi). This manoeuvre effectively eliminated any chance of a collision with a piece of space debris which had been part of the Kosmos 2421 satellite.

The ATV was one of the quietest places on the ISS, as it was isolated from the rest of the station. Because of this, the crew used it as sleeping quarters, and also as a place to perform personal hygiene activities. Yi So-yeon also used it as laboratory space where she performed nanotechnology experiments.

At the time of its docking, the Expedition 16 crew was aboard the space station. This consisted of Peggy Whitson of NASA who was the station's Commander, along with two Flight Engineers; Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Garrett Reisman of NASA. They were replaced by the Expedition 17 crew in April and May, who remained aboard the station at the time of the ATV's departure. This crew consisted of station Commander Sergey Volkov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, and Flight Engineers; Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Gregory Chamitoff of NASA.

Whilst the ATV was docked, two manned spacecraft visited the space station. In April, Soyuz TMA-12 delivered two members of the Expedition 17 crew, and also carried South Korean spaceflight participant Yi So-Yeon. Space Shuttle Discovery docked in May on STS-124, replacing Reisman with Chamitoff and delivering the Japanese Experiment Module. No member of the European Space Agency was aboard the ISS while Jules Verne was docked.