'Jules Verne' set for sea voyage

The Jules Verne cargo ship has been packed up ready for despatch to the European spaceport in French Guiana.The vehicle-the biggest, most complex spacecraft ever built in Europe-will launch in January with up to 7.5 tonnes of supplies for the space station.The ship has been under test for three years at the European Space Agency's technical centre in the Netherlands.
Late on Friday it began the transfer by road and canal to Rotterdam, from where it will go by sea to South America.The Jules Verne-or Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)to give it its generic name has been split into three parts and put in containers for the journey.The craft heads to the Kourou spaceport as part of a 400-tonne, 50-case shipment that incorporates all the associated parts, apparatus and tools needed to reassemble it and check it prior to launch."One of the major issues has been getting the customs paperwork in order,"explained Stefan Brosze, ATV transportation manager."There are members of our team who know exactly where to find everything, right down to the very smallest items." The Jules Verne is the first of at least five ATVs that will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) over the coming years.Developed at a cost of 1.3bn euros (£0.9bn), the ship incorporates sophisticated automated rendezvous and docking systems.Once launched on an Ariane 5 rocket, the craft can find its own way to the ISS, to deliver air, water, fuel, scientific equipment, food, clothing and even personal items to the platform.It will also reboost the station, which has a tendency to drift back to Earth over time...
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As in the days of Noah...