Re-Entry of Automated Transfer Vehicle-3

ISS033-E-009232 (3 Oct. 2012) --- This still photo taken by the Expedition 33 crew members aboard the International Space Station shows evidence of the fiery plunge through Earth’s atmosphere and the destructive re-entry of the European Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3) spacecraft, also known as “Edoardo Amaldi.” The end of the ATV took place over a remote swath of the Pacific Ocean where any surviving debris safely splashed down a short time later, at around 1:30 a.m. (GMT) on Oct. 3, thus concluding the highly successful ATV-3 mission. Aboard the craft during re-entry was the Re Entry Breakup Recorder (REBR), a spacecraft “black box” designed to gather data on vehicle disintegration during re-entry in order to improve future spacecraft re-entry models.