Europe's Last ATV Cargo Ship Blasts Off for Space Station

A space cargo ship as large as a double-decker bus blasted off for the International Space Station on Tuesday, marking the final space voyage for Europe's fleet of huge robotic spacecraft.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

The European Space Agency's fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle went into orbit atop an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana Tuesday at 7:47 p.m. ET.

ATV-5 will take its time getting to the orbiting lab, arriving on Aug. 12 with more than 7 tons of food, water, clothing, spare parts and scientific gear. The cargo vessel itself weighs 13 tons; the fully loaded ATV-5 is the heaviest payload ever lofted by an Ariane 5, the European Space Agency says. [Europe's ATV-5 Space Cargo Ship Mission in Pictures]

ESA named each of its ATV vehicles after European scientists and thinkers. ATV-5 received the moniker "Georges Lemaitre," after the Belgian priest and astronomer who is considered the progenitor of the Big Bang theory of the universe's origin.

In keeping with its name, Georges Lemaitre is hauling some interesting scientific experiments to the International Space Station. One of them is ESA's Haptics-1 study, which will install a high-tech joystick on the station that astronauts will use to play simple video games. The experiment should help researchers better understand how weightlessness affects human motor control, NASA officials said.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

Even the craft's fiery death in Earth's atmosphere — which will likely come about six months after docking — should return some useful data. Infrared imagers aboard the cargo vessel will collect data during ATV-5's re-entry, helping engineers plan for the space station's eventual destruction. (NASA hopes to keep the orbiting complex operational through at least 2024.)

— Mike Wall, Space.com

This is a condensed version of a report from Space.com. Read the full report. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter and Google+. Follow Space.com on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

• Photo Guide: Space Station's Robotic Cargo Fleet
• Now Boarding: The Top 10 Private Spaceships
• Video: Final ATV Cargo Craft Launched to Space Station
• Video: Heaviest Spacecraft Ever Launched By Europe