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The ''Albert Einstein'' ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 004 (ATV-004), was a European unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft, named after the German-born physicist Albert Einstein. It was built to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo, and also to reboost the station's altitude with its thrusters.〔 It was the fourth and penultimate ATV to be built, following the ''Edoardo Amaldi'', which was launched in March 2012. ''Albert Einstein'' ''Albert Einstein'' was launched on an Ariane 5ES rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana at 21:52:11 GMT on 5 June 2013. The launch was conducted by Arianespace on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). At the time of its launch, ''Albert Einstein'' was the heaviest spacecraft ever launched to orbit by an Ariane rocket, with a total mass of .〔 The ATV docked successfully with the ISS at 14:07 GMT (16:07 CEST) on 15 June 2013. After a successful five-month mission, ''Albert Einstein'' re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and was destroyed, as planned, on 2 November 2013.〔("A fiery end to a perfect mission: ATV Albert Einstein (2013)" ). ESA. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.〕 ==Mission payload== The ''Albert Einstein'' supplied the ISS with dry cargo, fuel, water and air to ensure the continued operation of the station. In addition, the ATV used its own thrusters and fuel supply to reboost the ISS, to counteract the drag the residual atmosphere imposes on the station. The total cost of the ''Albert Einstein'' mission was approximately 450 million euros. At the time of its launch, the ''Albert Einstein'' held the record for:〔 *Most dry cargo launched in any European spacecraft – ; *Most diverse cargo mix aboard a spacecraft – 1,400 different items; *Largest quantity of late cargo (cargo added only two weeks before launch, while ''Albert Einstein'' was already mated to the top of the Ariane 5 rocket) – . A full cargo breakdown is provided in the following table: : ''Source: ESA''〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Albert Einstein ATV」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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