European Space Agency Astronaut Paolo Nespoli, Flight Engineer aboard the International Space Station, snapped this picture of the Automated Transfer Vehicle 2 launching from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. The images shows the rising exhaust trail of Ariane, still in its initial vertical trajectory. The trail can be seen as a thin streak framed just beneath the Station’s remote manipulator arm.
The ATV-2 is scheduled to dock at the International Space Station on 24 February 2011. Post compiled from information on this ESA webpage.
