[meteorite-list] Photos of ATV-4 spacecraft burning up on reentry

From: Robin Whittle <rw_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 12:41:27 +1100
Message-ID: <52799E47.9080909_at_firstpr.com.au>

This does not concern meteorites, but good photos of a large spacecraft
burning up in the atmosphere.

The ATV-4 Albert Einstein was an unmanned European spacecraft which
takes supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), uses its
booster rockets (4 x 490 Newton ~= 196kg) to elevate the ISS in its
orbit and then takes waste away.

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATV-4
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_Transfer_Vehicle

I guess its mass would have been 14 to 15 tonnes when it burnt up over
the Pacific Ocean on 2nd November. Here are some photos from the ISS:

   https://secure.flickr.com/photos/esa_events/sets/72157637345106796/

with this information in a mouseover of the subtitle:

   ESA's fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, Albert Einstein, burnt
   up on 2 November at 12:04 GMT over an uninhabited area of the
   Pacific Ocean. It left the International Space Station a week
   earlier with 1.6 tonnes of waste after spending five months
   attached to the orbital outpost.

   Each ATV mission ends with the spacecraft burning up harmlessly
   in the atmosphere. This time, however, the ATV team organised a
   special departure to gain valuable data on reentries.

   After undocking at 09:00 GMT on 28 October, Albert Einstein was
   instructed by its control centre in Toulouse, France, to perform
   delicate manoeuvres over the course of five days to position
   itself directly below the Station.

   Astronauts on the Station observed the vessel from above as it
   disintegrated.

   These images from the Station was taken when Albert Einstein
   was around 100 km directly below and had began its destructive
   dive. It is the first view of an ATV reentry since the first,
   of Jules Verne, in 2008.

   ATV Albert Einstein delivered 7 tonnes of supplies, propellant
   and experiments to the Space Station. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano
   oversaw the unloading and cataloguing of the cargo, comprising over
   1400 individual items.

 - Robin
Received on Tue 05 Nov 2013 08:41:27 PM PST