Europe Unveils Concept for Manned ATV

By Nancy Atkinson - May 29, 2008 at 7:42 AM UTC | Space Exploration
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Here's a futuristic-looking concept for a manned vehicle of the not-so-distant future. Buoyed by the success of the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle, the European space company EADS Astrium unveiled their plans to evolve the ATV â€" currently a cargo carrier for the International Space Station â€" to a manned vehicle. There's just one little hurdle to overcome: currently, the ATV isn't capable of returning to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere. But Astrium says the cost for the upgrade would be reasonable, and an additional crew-capable vehicle would certainly come in handy for the ISS when the shuttles are retired in 2010.

Jules Verne successfully docked to the space station in April of this year using its sophisticated navigation, rendezvous and docking technologies. Astrium believes a crewed version of the ATV is the logical next step.

The idea is to use the current avionics and propulsion systems of the Jules Verne, but insert a crew compartment in place of the current cargo section.

Astrium says the work to upgrade the vehicle would be done in two stages. The first would be to give the freighter a means of returning non-human items to Earth safely - something it currently can't do. Astrium says this stage could be flying by 2013 and would cost "well below one billion euros" to achieve.

If all goes well, the re-entry freight capsule could then be upgraded to carry three astronauts in a second stage of development.

Astrium estimates maiden voyage of a crewed capsule would be 2017 at the earliest. While the US's new Orion spacecraft is scheduled to be ready by 2014, its always nice to have a back-up.

A model of a proposed European manned spaceship was on display at the Berlin Air Show.

Original News Source:

BBC

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com