Scientists Eager to See European Spacecraft's Death Dive (Space.com)

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Scientists Eager to See European Spacecraft's Death Dive
By Tariq Malik
Senior Editor
28 September 2008


A European space freighter the size of a London double-decker bus is headed for a fiery death on Monday with a team of scientists hoping for a ringside seat.

Researchers from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and other groups are preparing to watch from afar as the unmanned cargo ship Jules Verne plunges through the Earth's atmosphere and burns up over the Pacific Ocean after a successful supply run to the International Space Station. The spacecraft's demise will mark a dramatic end for the first of ESA's new fleet of Automated Transfer Vehicles.

"With the reentry of Jules Verne, there is a certain sadness at the conclusion of what has been such a successful mission," ESA's ATV mission manager John Ellwood told SPACE.com. "However, we know that all the mission requirements were met or exceeded and this has given a great satisfaction to the enormous team which has worked on this amazing project."



The team of about 55 scientists based out of Tahiti hope to watch Jules Verne's final minutes from two chase planes flying about 373 miles (600 km) apart. The observation campaign has two goals:

Obtain a first-hand look at how Jules Verne reenters to aid in better ATV designs in the future.
Use the relatively rare event of a planned spacecraft destruction to shed light on how natural fireballs like meteors explode as they enter Earth's atmosphere.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080928-julesverne-reentry.html