Johannes Kepler freighter approaches space station
LONDON. February 24. KAZINFORM Europe's sophisticated space freighter, Johannes Kepler, is set to dock with the International Space Station (ISS); Kazinform refers to BBC News.
The unmanned robotic truck is delivering new supplies of fuel, food, air, and equipment to the orbiting platform's astronauts.
Kepler is totally automatic - it will use its own computerised systems to make the attachment.
Ground controllers and the station's astronauts will not intervene unless there is a problem.
Contact with the Zvezda module on the rear of the ISS is timed for about 1549 GMT.
A successful docking will clear the way for the American space shuttle Discovery to lift off from Earth.
It, too, has a date with the ISS, and will carry up six visiting astronauts and a smart humanoid robot.
Kepler was launched from Europe's Kourou spaceport in French Guiana last Wednesday.
Ever since, the truck has been on a path to chase down the station, which sweeps around the Earth at 27,000km/h.
The European Space Agency reports that Kepler has flown flawlessly since its picture-perfect launch from South America.
"The 'Cheshire cat smile' hasn't got any smaller," said Bob Chesson, Esa's head of human spaceflight operations.
"This really is an amazing mission so far. We haven't had any anomalies. It's just perfect," he told BBC News.
See www.bbc.co.uk for full story.