Europe's next unmanned logistics spacecraft is scheduled for launch to the International Space Station in mid-2010. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a German astronomer and mathematician who is best known for discovering the laws of planetary motion. Starting his career as a teacher in Graz, he later moved to Prague where he worked with the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. Kepler's work contributed greatly to the scientific and technical progress of Europe and enabled space exploration today. This year is also the 400th anniversary of the publication of one of Kepler's most influential works, Astronomia Nova. The choice of this key figure in astronomy is particularly fitting in 2009, the International Year of Astronomy.
Last year's flawless mission of the first ATV, named after French science fiction writer Jules Verne, demonstrated the spacecraft's key role in International Space Station (ISS) logistics and operations. On its inaugural flight, Jules Verne delivered six tons of cargo to the ISS, including food, clothing, propellants, water and oxygen. It also contributed to ISS operations by performing regular reboosts of the orbital complex and by removing 2.5 tonnes of waste at the end of its six-month mission. ATV Johannes Kepler is currently under production at EADS Astrium in Bremen, Germany.
(Image: Backdropped by the blackness of space, ESA's Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (lower left) appears to be very small as it continues its relative separation from the International Space Station. The ATV undocked from the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module at 23:29 CEST on 5 September 2008 and was placed in a parking orbit for three weeks, scheduled to be deorbited on 29 September when lighting conditions are correct for an ESA imagery experiment of reentry. Photo credit: NASA)