Why burn up the Jules Verne ATV in the atmosphere?

[DHambley]

Recently the Jules Verne Auto Transport Vehicle (ATV) delivered a load of 3.5 tons of cargo to the ISS. Then, the 13.4 ton ATV departed the ISS and it's orbit was slowed enough to allow it to enter the atmosphere and disintegrate.

Being that it's very expensive to haul tons of material up into orbit, isn't there a better way to utilize those thousands of pounds of metal and other material instead of burning it up?

DH

 

[btrueblood]

In the short term, no. It's a specialized piece of equipment, with no way to modify it with current tools/technology once it's up there, so it's useless except as dead weight.

As dead weight, in an unstable orbit*, it will eventually de-orbit due to drag...and if deorbited that way, there is no/little control over where it will land. So, best to leave a little fuel on board, and drive it into a fairly empty place on the ocean, rather than risk hurting somebody.

*Yes, the ISS is in an unstable orbit, and will eventually degrade and re-enter, without regular visits from Russian "tankers" to top off fuel.

 

[TDew]

First off the ATVs are cheap... relatively speaking. Non-manned vehicles are disposable.

The constant controlled decay is minimized by all sorts of operations on ISS not just the resupply, by the Space Shuttle, ATVs, and Russian Soyuz & Progress Flights. All LEO(Low Earth Orbit) Satellites Decay, because of Atmospheric and Gravitational Drag. However saying it is in unstable orbit is a misnomer.

Audentes fortuna juvat

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." --George S. Patton

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Adding the systems and the ability to survive re-entry would reduce its cargo capacity quite a bit.

 

[btrueblood]

"However saying it is in unstable orbit is a misnomer. "

...uhh...so it's in a stable orbit?

 

[hydrae]

It is in a decaying orbit, as all LEO craft are.
The orbit will become unstable when no longer can make one more round.
Hydrae

 

[btrueblood]

"It is in a decaying orbit, as all LEO craft are.
The orbit will become unstable when no longer can make one more round.
Hydrae "


Right. And the Aussies won't mind a bit that the ISS just "decayed" into their back yards.

Semantics are wonderful things.