“designed to operate independent of human control..”

Jules Verne ATVSome science news [as we don’t get enough.. – Ed]. With the Space Shuttle Endeavour safely on the ground at Kennedy Space Centre – video here – the European Space Agency’s Jules Verne ATV is finally approaching the International Space Station – the dot below the edge of the Earth in the image is the Jules Verne viewed from the ISS. And it’s not that the residents of the Space Station don’t trust HAL 9000 the automated docking system on-board Jules Verne, but they’ve made sure there’s been a live test of the Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre and there will be two days of demonstration drills before the real attempt on Thursday. SpaceWeather has more views. Adds Where Jules Verne is now.Endeavour’s night landing at Kennedy Space Centre.

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