The European Space Agency's next Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to roll off the production line will be called [1] Albert Einstein.

Space trucks Jules Verne (ATV-1) and Johannes Kepler (ATV-2, pictured above) have already carried supplies to the International Space Station, and will be followed in February next year by Edoardo Amaldi (ATV-3).

Albert Einstein (ATV-4) is being built (see pic) at various sites across Europe, ahead of a 2013 launch. The name was proposed by the ESA's Swiss delegation, since although the physicist was born in Germany, he "studied and spent his early career in Switzerland". ®

Links

1. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV/SEMKZDNSNNG_0.html

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