SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Crew Tests and Rehearses ‘Jules Verne’ Visit* 5 SEPTEMBER 2007

Image above: Category 5 Hurricane Felix is pictured from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

The European Space Agency’s first cargo vehicle named ‘Jules Verne’ is scheduled to visit the International Space Station early next year. The station crew is testing and rehearsing maneuvers that will allow the ‘Jules Verne’ -- also known as the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) -- to dock at the station.

While testing navigation equipment, the crew oriented the station to the ATV docking attitude and transferred attitude control to the Russian segment. Russian specialists noted the station was slightly out of the proper attitude and are checking navigation software.

Over the weekend the Expedition 15 crew was able to view Hurricane Felix during two orbital passes. On the first pass Felix was churning through the Caribbean as a category 5 storm with winds up to 165 miles per hour. During the second pass Felix was nearing Honduras and Nicaragua with slightly weaker winds.

+ View more Hurricane Felix imagery http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/exp15_hurricane_felix.html

+ Read about the PMA-3 relocation http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/pma3move.html + Read more about Expedition 15 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.html + View crew daily timelines http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html