GCIS SPACE SECURITY BRIEFING: European freighter docks with space station

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: PHYSORG

24February2011 10:00pmEST

GCIS SPACE SECURITY UPDATE: A robot freighter laden with seven tonnes of supplies docked flawlessly on Thursday with the International Space Station (ISS), its European controllers said.

The Johannes Kepler teamed up with the ISS at 1708 GMT after an eight-day orbital flight covering some 2.5 million miles, live coverage of the operation showed.

After the control room burst into applause, engineers began running through a checklist to ensure that the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) had moored securely.

The operation was scheduled to be followed at 2150 GMT by the launch of Discovery, NASA's oldest and most journeyed space shuttle, whose trip to the ISS will be its final mission.

After liftoff aboard an Ariane 5 super-rocket on February 16, the supply ship used advanced navigation and onboard thrusters to automatically find its way to the ISS, orbiting at about 218 miles.

The 20-tonne vehicle is designed to supply the ISS with air, food and spare parts and lift the sprawling station -- which, tugged by Earth's atmosphere, has lost altitude -- by some 31 miles. (read full report)

"GCIS SPACE SECURITY UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.