29 September 2008
The Jules Verne spacecraft glides over the BA during evening twilight
The Jules Verne spacecraft appears as a streak of light below the clouds at top.
Photo by Aymen Ibrahem, Senior Astronomy Specialist
On the evening of 18 September 2008, the European Jules Verne spacecraft, also known as ATV, flew over Egypt. Jules Verne was visible to the unaided eye as a drifting star-like object. It gracefully crossed the sky, from the western horizon to the eastern horizon, in about 4 minutes! The unmanned spacecraft is orbiting Earth at an altitude of approximately 340 km.
Intriguingly, Jules Verne is doomed! On 29 September 2008, ground controllers of the European Space Agency (ESA) will “deorbit” Jules Verne over the Pacific Ocean. Deorbiting is a controlled destructive reentry of a spacecraft into Earth’s atmosphere. Jules Verne will burn up during the fateful atmospheric plunge, due to aerodynamic heating, induced by the supersonic speed of the spacecraft. For further information, please read the online articles below.
A NASA image of the Jules Verne spacecraft
Further Reading
ESA’s ATV successfully undocks from International Space Station
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM1TTO4KKF_index_0.html
Europe’s automated ship docks to the ISS
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMORO5QGEF_Life_0.html
Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem
Senior Astronomy Specialist