On January 27, 1967, during a test and training exercise at Launch Complex 34, Cape Canaveral, the command module of the Apollo/Saturn 204 mission was destroyed by fire.
The crew training at that time was composed of the astronauts selected for the first manned Apollo Program mission: Command Pilot Virgil I. Gus Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee. All three astronauts died in the fire.
The typical ATV mission starts in French Guiana, at the Kourou launch site. An Ariane 5 rocket deploys the ATV spacecraft on a circular Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 260 km. ATV then activates its navigation systems and fires its thrusters to reach the transfer orbit to the ISS.
After two or three days, and raising its orbit to 400 km, ATV will be in sight of ISS. It will start the approaching phase of the mission from about 30 km behind and 5 km below the station. Even if the approach and the docking procedures are fully automatic, the flight controllers can at any time call on the spacecraft and back away from the station. The ISS crew can also reject the spacecraft in case any anomalies are noticed.
Once the spacecraft is safely docked to the ISS, the station\’s crew can access the pressurized cargo section and remove the payload. After the payload is removed, the crew fills the cargo section with used hardware and waste materials. At intervals of 10 to 14 days, the main thrusters of the ATV will be used to boost the station\’s altitude. At the end of the mission, the ATV separates from the ISS, and performs a controlled and safe destructive re-entry somewhere above the Pacific Ocean.
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