14 DAY TRIAL // The third Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-3) the European Space Agency constructed for resupplying the International Space Station is scheduled to dock to the orbital facility today, March 28, at 00:33 CEST (22:33 GMT, 18:32 EDT).
ESA officials announce that the event will be broadcast online starting at 22:00 GMT (18:00 pm EDT). Edoardo Amaldi spent about five days in space chasing after the station, having launched on March 23, from the ESA Kourou Spaceport, in French Guiana, South America.
The unmanned spacecraft is carrying about 7 tons of cargo for the Expedition 30 crew, including food, water, propellant for the ISS thrusters, personal items and spare parts, plus a number of experiments.
Mission Control says that ATV-3 is bound for the Russian-built Zvezda module on the ISS. After astronauts unload the cargo, they will fill the module with thrash and unneeded equipment. The capsule will then be deorbited, and will burn high in Earth's atmosphere.