PARIS, March 16 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says the third of its Automated Transfer Vehicles has been named after the late Italian physicist and space pioneer Edoardo Amaldi.
"Amaldi was a leading figure in Italian science in the 20th century, particularly in fundamental experimental physics," the ESA said. In Rome, in the 1930s, Amaldi was a member of a group of young scientists who, led by Enrico Fermi, made the famous discovery of slow neutrons which later made possible the nuclear reactor. He contributed to nuclear physics in the 1930s and 1940s and later to knowledge of cosmic rays and particle physics. He became a pioneer in the search for gravitational waves in the 1970s."
Amaldi died in 1989.
The ESA's first ATV, the Jules Verne, completed its demonstration flight to the International Space Station in 2008, docking with 4.5 tons of food, water, fuel, supplies and equipment. It served as a propulsion module for six months and finally undocked and entered Earth's atmosphere over the southern Pacific, where it was destroyed during re-entry.
The second ATV -- the Johannes Kepler -- is being completed for launch later this year.
"The ATV spacecraft are … an excellent demonstration of Europe's capability in creating space infrastructure for human spaceflight and exploration," the ESA said.
