Simulation of a continuous approach between ATV and ISS

On a 120 000 kg mobile platform, a set of passive rendezvous targets (retroreflectors), identical to the ones to be installed on the ISS, were facing the videometre which was mounted on an articulated robotic arm (with six degrees of freedom) representing the ATV motion. Inside an exceptional 600m-long building, the platform, able to ride on 550m-long rails, made possible the simulation of a continuous approach between the two space vehicles from a range of several hundreds metres to almost docking distance. The pulsed laser beams emitted by the videometer on the ATV are passively reflected by retroreflectors attached to the outside of the International Space Station (ISS), resulting in unique light patterns.