EU spaceship prepares for launch

KOUROU, French Guiana, March 8 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency's Jules Verne has been cleared for launch on its maiden voyage from French Guiana to the International Space Station.

The 22-ton unmanned Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) will carry almost 8 tons of equipment, spare parts food, fuel and oxygen when it launches Saturday from ESA's launch site along the northern coast of South America, NASA said in a release.

The cargo carrier will will ride atop an Ariane 5 rocket. A high-precision navigation system will be used to guide the craft to a rendezvous with the station, where it will dock automatically.

NASA said the Jules Verne will remain at the ISS until August, when it will be repacked with trash and returned into Earth's atmosphere. The craft will then burn up over the Pacific Ocean, NASA said.