Cargo vessel prepared for launch to ISS

KOUROU, French Guiana, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says fuel, water, oxygen and most of the cargo have been loaded into its space ferry bound for the International Space Station.

The Automated Transfer Vehicle, which arrived at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, last August, is set to be launched toward the ISS March 9, an ESA release said Wednesday.

After launch atop the Ariane 5 ES rocket the unmanned ATV is set to dock automatically with the ISS on March 19 and remain attached to the station until the end of August.

"By the end of last week, we had loaded 5411 kg of fuel, to be used to power itself and to perform reboost and attitude control of the Station, plus 860 kg of fuel to be transferred to the Russian Station segment," Charlotte Beskow, ATV deputy launch campaign manager, said. "We've also taken on air and oxygen."

Meanwhile, controllers at the ATV Control Center in Toulouse, France, have been running exhaustive simulations to ensure they are ready for all phases of the flight as well as any emergencies.

"We practice for any conceivable situation. For example, what to do if docking goes wrong or if we suddenly lost our main flight computers," Jean-Michel Bois, Head of the ESA Operations Management Team in Toulouse, said.

"As of today, we are ready to go to the Space Station."