by Nancy Atkinson on October 28, 2013

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The Expedition 37 crew onboard the International Space Station closed the hatch and said goodbye to the ATV-4 Albert Einstein cargo ship early this morning, Oct. 28. Europes 4th Automated Transfer Vehicle undocked at 08:55 UTC (4:55 a.m. EDT). The cargo carrier was filled with trash and it will be deorbited on Nov. 2 for a destructive entry back into the Earths atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. ATV-4 has been at the ISS since June 15, delivering more than 7 tons of food, fuel and supplies. Its departure helps prepare for more action at the ISS: the current Soyuz spacecraft docked at the station will be moved to a different location so that a new Soyuz can dock with three new crew members. The Soyuz TMA-11M is scheduled to launch on Nov. 6, 2013 with the Expedition 38/39 crew of Rick Mastracchio, Koichi Wakata, Mikhail Tyurin.

Some images of the undocking, below:

This photo was taken from Japan shorty after the undocking:

The current Expedition 37 crew took this picture inside the ATV-4 before undocking as a tribute to Albert Einstein. Credit: ESA/Luca Parmitano.

ATV-4 backing away from the ISS. Credit: NASA TV.

The ATV-4 is just visible as it passes into Earths terminator. Credit: NASA TV.

Tagged as: ATV-4 Albert Einstein, International Space Station (ISS), Space Flight

Original post:

ATV-4 ‘Einstein’ Says Goodbye to the Space Station