By Prensa Latina
Toulouse : Images broadcast directly from the control center in this French city showed the successful connection of the Automated Transference Vehicle VERNE with the International Space Station Thursday.
The ATV and supplier VERNE -as it was baptized- connected with the ISS at 14:45 GMT, setting a new space stage for France and Europe in general.
Experts in Toulouse, south of France, said VERNE, with its 17 tons of weight, was moving at a relative speed of 6 to 7 centimeters a second, to connect to Russian space module Zvezda, in the rear part of the ISS.
The first of a series of five suppliers, the ATV VERNE was carrying food, scientific material, water, oxygen and fuel, as an experiment for its future missions.
In an orbit of 217.4 miles of altitude, VERNE and the ISS are moving at 17,398 miles an hour.
It is expected that in four months, VERNE will carry wastes which will be disintegrated at the time they get into the atmosphere.
Completely automated, VERNE was launched on March 9 by an ARIANE rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, working with a laser system for the first time.
The ATV VERNE was designed by Astrium Space Transportation, a branch of European aeronautics and defense consortium EADS.