Cargo Ships Arriving at the ISS Are Guided In Using a Plastic Ruler

You ’re looking at the European Space Agency spaceman Alexander Gerst as he guided in the Automated Transfer Vehicle 5 to dock with the International Space Station on August 12th . In his hand ? A dewy-eyed plastic rule .

While ATV-5 is design to bob without human intervention , someone aboard the ISS always manually checks the approach speed of the massive consignment vessel to ensure that Something Bad does n’t happen . That check involves hold a clear credit card ruler to a display to mark the stop number . you could see it in his hand . If something had go wrong . he ’d have hit the large cherry button seen on the docking control control board to abort the docking . apparently . [ ESA ]

Space

Hostinger Coupon Code 15% Off