spacetoday.net: ATV leaves ISS for final time

ATV leaves ISS for final time

Posted: Mon, Feb 16, 2015, 7:36 PM ET (0036 GMT)
ATV-5 approaching ISS (Roscosmos/ESA)

A European cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station for the final time Saturday and burned up in the atmosphere a day later. The Automated Transfer Vehicle 5 (ATV-5) spacecraft undocked from the station's Russian segment at 8:40 am EST (1340 GMT) Saturday and reentered a little more than 24 hours later, breaking up in the atmosphere shortly after 1 pm EST (1800 GMT) Sunday. ATV-5 was the final such cargo spacecraft the European Space Agency built to transport cargo to the ISS and also maintain the station's orbit; ESA elected to work with NASA on building the service module for the Orion spacecraft rather than build additional ATV vehicles.