Space Station Supply Ship Departs for the Final Time
The unpiloted Russian ISS Progress 47 cargo ship, loaded with trash and supplies no longer needed by the Expedition 32 crew, undocked from the International Space Station for the final time July 30 and manoeuvred to a safe distance from the complex for several weeks of engineering tests. The Progress separated from the Pirs Docking Compartment two days after redocking to that port to test an upgraded automated rendezvous system. The Progress initially undocked from the station July 22. An initial attempt to redock the following day was unsuccessful due to the effect of low temperatures in the system that Russian engineers solved to enable the redocking to occur on July 28. The Progress will be deorbited in late August to burn up in Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
The ISS Progress 47 cargo vehicle docked once again to the International Space Station's Pirs docking compartment Saturday at 01:01 UT after a successful test of its new automated rendezvous system. Read more
Space Station Cargo Ship Docking Attempt To Air On NASA TV
As part of NASA's ongoing live coverage of mission operations aboard the International Space Station, NASA Television will broadcast the attempted redocking of an unpiloted Russian cargo spacecraft to the space station for engineering data collection beginning at 19:00 UT Saturday, July 28. Docking is scheduled for 01:00 UT, 29th July, 2012. Read more
Russian cargo ship fails to dock at ISS during tests
The Russian cargo ship Progress has failed to successfully dock with the International Space Station (ISS) during tests designed to facilitate future link-ups, the US and Russian space agencies said Tuesday. Read more