5:10 GMT (12:10 am EST): Successful separation of the ATV Jules Verne. The Aestus engine will fire a third time in about 72 minutes from now in order to deorbit the upper stage.
5:06 GMT (12:06 am EST): Successful shut-down of the upper stage. The next step will be the separation of Jules Verne.
5:05 GMT (12:05 am EST): The EPS upper stage fires for the second time.
4:42 GMT (11:44 pm EST): About half-way through the so called ballistic phase, the spacecraft with the upper stage is currently travelling at 7.5 km/s in 190 km altitude. At lot of energy (and therefore propellant) was needed to change the inclination from the 5 degrees of the equator-near Kourou space port to the 51 degrees of the International Space Station.
4:20 GMT (11:20 pm EST): First shut-down of the upper stage. The EPS stage with the ATV is now in a 45 minutes long cruise phase.
4:12 GMT (11:12 pm EST): Main engine cutoff and separation of the first stage. The second stage ignited. The EPS upper stage with its Aestus engine will now burn for about 8 minutes.
4:06 GMT (11:06 pm EST): The payload fairing is jettisoned. As the rocket reached over 100 kilometers altitude and left the dense atmosphere, this cover is no longer needed.
4:05 GMT (11:05 pm EST): The two solid rocket boosters have been jettisoned after 140 seconds. The main stage continues to push the rocket skywards.
4:03 GMT (11:03 pm EST): Liftoff of the Ariane 5 ES rocket carrying Jules Verne to the ISS.
4:02 GMT (11:02 pm EST): T-1. Switched to onboard power. Everything is ready for the launch of the Ariane 5 rocket. The Vulcain main engine will be ignited 7 seconds before the boosters to ensure proper operation.
3:59 GMT (10:59 pm EST): T-4. The tanks are pressurised for flight.
3:56 GMT (10:56 pm EST): T-7. The so-called synchronized sequence is started. This sequence runs completely automated. If a problem occurs the countdown have to be reset to the start of the automated sequence which won’t be possible today due to the rendezvous requirement with the ISS.
3:48 GMT (10:48 pm EST): 15 minutes remaining until the launch. Everything is currently on go. Launch time has been slightly changed to 3:03 GMT, one minute earlier than originally planned.
3:03 GMT (10:03 pm EST): The clock says one hour until launch. The weather looks fine for launch.
March 9, 2008
23:13 GMT (6:13 pm EST): The fueling for the Ariane 5 main stage has begun. The stage is powered by the Vulcain engine feeded by liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2). Today’s launch will be the 37th for Ariane 5 and the 181th for the Ariane family. We are under 5 hours from the launch now.
March 8, 2008: The Ariane 5 rocket with its ATV payload is ready for the launch tomorrow. It was rolled out to the launch pad this afternoon.
The payload consists of the ATV “Jules Verne” weighing a record of 19,012 kilograms:
The ATV is designed to bring supplies to the ISS (water, air, food, propellants for the Russian section, spare parts, experimental hardware, etc.), and to reboost the ISS into its nominal orbit.
The ATV will remain docked to the ISS for nearly six months, before separating and making a guided reentry and disintegrating in the atmosphere.
The Ariane 5 will fly in its ES version with the storable propellant EPS upper stage powered by the Aestus engine. It uses a special ATVpayload fairing.
The launch window opens at 4:04 GMT (March 8, 11:04 pm EST) on March 9.
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