AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

UPDATE

April 2014

McIlvaine Company

Clean Packing for a Space Mission

The European Space Agency’s fifth and last Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV Georges Lemaître, will deliver more than 5,700 lbs. kg of dry cargo to the International Space Station. Packing the cargo requires careful planning and execution because it has to endure the rigors of launch this summer on an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

ATV-5 is the last in the series to deliver supplies to the Station and its mission offers a unique opportunity to space-test LIRIS for comparison with the operational navigation sensors. Recorders inside ATV’s pressurized cargo bay will store the data for later download and analysis.

All items are placed in standard bags and strapped tightly to the racks. The complete module is rotated to allow the technicians to access the “roof” and “floor” compartments that become the walls. Astronauts in the Space Station can unload the bags in space from all sides as they float in weightlessness.

The technicians wear cleanroom suits to prevent contaminating the cargo and spaceship. Living in space weakens human immune systems and every precaution is taken to avoid taking harmful bacteria and viruses to the orbital complex.

McIlvaine Company

Northfield, IL 60093-2743

Tel:  847-784-0012; Fax:  847-784-0061

E-mail:  editor@mcilvainecompany.com

Web site:  www.mcilvainecompany.com