Russian Proton poised to launch Turkish satellite Friday

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Turkish telecommunications satellite designed to cover a vast region over Europe and Asia is poised to lift-off Friday a top a Russian Proton rocket from Kazakhstan.

The launch of an International Launch Services Proton-M from the Baikonur Cosmodrome is planned for 4:40 p.m. EDT (2:40 a.m. local time) from launch pad 39. The launch window is

“This is the second ILS Proton launch for Mitsubishi Electric and Turksat, following the launch of TURKSAT 4A in February of last year," Karen R. Monaghan, ILS Director of Communications, explained on Thursday. "The powerful TURKSAT 4B satellite, weighing nearly 5 metric tons at separation, will enhance direct TV broadcasting services over a wide geographic region including Turkey, Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa."

The TurkSat 4B spacecraft will host 36 transponders to provide increased customer usage. The satellite is expected to operate for at least 15 years, and will have enough maneuvering fuel for up to 30 years of service.

“A little over a minute after lift-off, Proton will experience Maximum Dynamic Pressure and will be traveling at three times the speed of sound," Monaghan said discussing the flight. "The first three stages of Proton will use a standard ascent profile to place the Breeze M upper stage and the TURKSAT 4B satellite into a sub-orbital trajectory. From this point in the mission, the Breeze M will perform planned mission maneuvers to advance the orbital unit first to a circular parking orbit, then to an intermediate orbit, followed by a transfer orbit, and finally to a geostationary transfer orbit."

U.S.-Russian space flight lands safely in Kazakhstan

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An American and two Russians returned to Earth on Thursday completing their 167 day stay aboard the International Space Station with a pinpoint landing on the desert region of central Kazakhstan.

NASA astronaut Steve Swanson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsuv and Oleg Artemyev guided their Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft to a touchdown at 10:23 p.m. EDT (8:23 a.m. Thursday, local time) on Wednesday.

The smooth landing concluded a spaceflight which began with a Soyuz thruster failure minutes after arriving in orbit forcing the crew to limp into a higher orbit over a two day period which trailed the space station.

Out going station commander Swanson, Skvortsuv and Artemyev said their farewells to fellow crew mates American Reid Wiseman, German Alexander Gerst and Expedition 41 commander Russian Max Suraev before entering their Soyuz and closing the hatches a few hours prior to undocking.

As an orbital sun rise began, the Soyuz craft separated from the station's Poisk module at 7:01 p.m., and slowly began moving out to a distance of a few hundred feet before circling around the station and departing.

"Goodbye ISS and so long station," radioed Soyuz commander Skvortsuv to his former home in space five minutes following the undocking.

Two Earth orbits later, Skvortsuv then maneuvered the Soyuz to a proper attitude to allow a section of the Soyuz to separate prior to leaving orbit with an engine firing at 9:31 p.m.

The crew made 2,704 trips around the Earth and traveled 71.7 million miles since their launch in March.

A new space trio is scheduled to launch to the orbiting laboratory in two weeks. NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore and cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova will lift-off inside their TMA-14M from Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 25 at 4:25 p.m., and will arrive at the station five and one-half hours later for docking.

Serova will become only the fourth Russian female to travel into space and the first to spend a long duration stay aboard the space station.


(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace, science and technology. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)

Russia launches supply craft to space station

Russia's Soyuz U rocket lifts a cargo craft to space today. (RSA)

An unmanned spacecraft filled with fresh supplies, fuel and hardware lifted off a top a Russian rocket today bound for the International Space Station.

Clear skies and warm temperatures favored the rocket's departure from western Kazakhstan.

The Progress M-11M supply craft -- loaded with nearly 2.6 tons of food, water and equipment, including supplies for NASA and Japan's astronauts -- lifted-off on time at 10:38 a.m. EDT (1438 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Launch occurred from the same traditional launch pad #1 which has supported most of the Russian Space Agency's manned and unmanned flights, including the first human space flight fifty years ago and the expedition crew's trip's to the space station.

The Progress craft, according to the Russian Space Agency, settled into an initial orbit of 120 x 149 miles.

The Progress M will orbit earth for two days as ground controllers steer the craft toward a docking, the first space craft docking to the space station at it's new altitude of 230 miles.

Progress will slowly guide itself in and dock to the Russian Zvezda module on Thursday at 12:37 p.m. (1637 GMT).

Aboard the orbiting lab are Russian cosmonauts commander Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev, Sergei Volkov, NASA astronauts Ron Garan and Mike Fossum, and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.

During the docking phase, Samokutyaev and Volkov will monitor the Progress' progress with a computer program called Russian telerobotically operated rendezvous system or TORU.

The duo will use TORU to help pilot the craft in to dock if Progress' on board computer fails.

New crew ready for exciting time aboard space station

New space station residents prepare for busy space flight. (NASA)

The next crew members bound for the International Space Station are in their final hours before launch to begin nearly six busy months of living and working in earth orbit.

Two space station veterans and a first time space flier will link up with the orbiting complex 222 miles above earth to begin a marathon mission.

Russia's Soyuz commander Sergei Volkov, along with NASA astronaut Mike Fossum and Japan's Satoshi Furukawaare are due to lift-off aboard a Soyuz FG rocket on Tuesday at 4:12:45 p.m. EDT (2012 GMT) from launch pad 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan.

Launch will occur from the very same launch pad which sent Yuri Gagarin aloft on mankind's first voyage into space fifty years earlier.

The boyish looking Volkov was born in 1973, and has logged nearly 200 days in space in 2008 as he flew his first spaceflight as commander of the 17th space station crew. He will perform his third spacewalk seven weeks after launching to the outpost.

His father is cosmonaut Alexander Volkov who spent 391 days in space on three spaceflights, including being aboard the Mir space station the months leading up to and after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The younger Volkov states that it was not his dream of being a cosmonaut as a child, as he sat and watched his father study all the time for exams associated with his flights and training.

"When I was a kid it was more minuses than pluses (to being a cosmonaut). Always busy, studying all day long, exams," Volkov explained.

He did want to become a pilot since an early age graduating from Tambov Air Force Pilot School in 1995, and that led him to cosmonaut training two years later.

Two time shuttle flier Mike Fossum has logged nearly 27 days in space, and has made six spacewalks outside the space station. He will perform his seventh orbital walk one month into his stay aboard the complex.

Japanese astronaut Furukawaare will serve as the Soyuz craft's co-pilot, and will be the only rookie riding into space this week.

A medical doctor from the University of Tokyo, Furukawaare began training to learn the Soyuz spacecraft in 2003 at Star City near Moscow; and the following year moved to Houston to begin Astronaut Candidate Training at the Johnson Space Center.

"My crew’s just awesome," Fossum stated recently as he spoke of his crew mates. "I’ve know Sergey Volkov for 11 years... he’s one of my best friends in the cosmonaut corps. I’ve known and worked with Satoshi since he showed up here to begin training."

"We’re three guys from three different countries and three different corners of the globe, but we get along great. We have a lot of fun working together," Fossum added.

Powered by a central core engine and four booster engines, the Soyuz FG will launch to the east, inclined 51.6 degrees to the earth's equator.

The space trio will ride inside their Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft, a new version of the older Soyuz crafts in which Russia will consider this flight a test flight.

Two days later, the Soyuz will slowly glide in and dock to the Russian Rassvet Module at about 5:00 p.m.

The new crew will join the three existing residents of station commander Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev and NASA astronaut Ron Garan two hours after arriving.

It will be the start of a busy second half of 2011 aboard the orbiting complex.

On June 23, a Russian resupply craft Progress M-11M is due to arrive and dock to the Zvezda service module, loaded with over two tons of fuel, water, fresh food and items for the crew of six.

NASA will launch the final space shuttle to the space station on July 8 to deliver supplies and help with stowage of new equipment brought up by Atlantis.

Fossum and Garan will perform a single six hour spacewalk on July 12 beginning at 8:00 a.m. during Atlantis' eight day stay.

The pair will remove a 1,400 pond failed ammonia pump module tank for storage inside the back section of the shuttle's payload bay.

NASA wants to learn why the pump failed very early in it's life for possible redesign.

"We’re going to the pump module right now is sitting on a stowage platform very close to the space station’s airlock, and Ron’s going to be getting onto the space station’s robot arm and we’re going to get this pump module ready to go," Fossum said of his single spacewalk's start.

Garin will ride the station's arm while holding on to the tank, while Fossum traverses over to a storage platform in Atlantis' bay.

Once latched down, the spacewalkers will switch places to begin the next task.

"I’ll jump on the arm, Ronnie will take the pedestrian route and then we’re going to pick up the RRM (Robotics Refueling Mission)," Fossum explained. "It’s a new kind of science payload that the shuttle’s bringing up, and we’ll put that onto a temporary stowage location on the station for a later install out at its permanent location."

The Goddard Space Flight Center's RRM will demonstrate the refueling of a spacecraft with a robot, likely DEXTRE. It will use fluids and not actual fuel for this experiment.

Two weeks later, Russian cosmonauts Borisenko and Volkov will venture outside to relocate a cargo platform from a Russian docking compartment to the Poisk module; and will they will deploy a mini transmitter containing messages of congratulations related to the golden anniversary of human kinds first voyage into space.

The docking compartment known as Pirs will be unlatched from the station and sent to a destructive reentry in Autumn of 2012.

The space duo will also install several experiments on Pirs to study how biological materials react to being exposed to space, and install a laser-based communications device to the Russian Zvezda module.

Russia's twenty-ninth space station-based spacewalk is planned for July 26.

Two more resupply Progress crafts are scheduled to arrive at the station on September 1 and October 28, stepping up from their traditional launch of every three months to two months following the July retirement of the space shuttle.

Borisenko, Samokutyaev and Garan will depart their home in space for their return to earth aboard their Soyuz TMA-21 craft on September 16. The trio left earth on April 5, arriving in time for the Gagarin anniversary one week later.

On the day prior to Soyuz undocking, Fossum will become the new space station commander. As the spacecraft undocks, Fossum will then become the commander of the new Expedition 29 crew.

Two weeks later, a new crew of three will replace the departed crew as they lift-off to earth's orbital outpost on Sept. 30 to begin their nearly six month stay.

Volkov, Fossum and Furukawaare will conclude their expedition aboard the space station on November 16 and land three hours later in a cold central Kazakhstan desert.

Russia's Proton delivers replacement satellite for the Americas

A Russian rocket lifts-off on Friday from Kazakhstan. (ILS)

A Russian rocket carried a new communications satellite into earth orbit today

The workhorse of Russia's commercial launch fleet, the Proton M lifted on it's first flight of the year.

An International Launch Services Proton M lifted-off on time at 3:15 p.m. EDT (1915 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan.

The rocket launched into the blackness of a clear night, and it's core booster engine was visible for several minutes from the launch site.

Built by Space Systems/ Loral, the Telstar 14R will provide telecommunications and high data network for homes and businesses in North, Central and the upper regions of South America.

The nearly 11,000-pound spacecraft will replace the failed Telstar 14 which was launched in 2004. One of it's two power producing solar arrays failed to deploy crippling the service ability.

Spacecraft separation from the rocket's Breeze M upper stage is planned for 12:28 a.m. Saturday.

Russian Soyuz U launches cargo craft to space station

A Russian rocket left earth today carrying an unmanned craft loaded with fresh supplies bound for the orbiting International Space Station.

The Soyuz U rocket with the Progress M-10M cargo craft lifted-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan on time at 9:05 a.m. EDT (1305 GMT), loaded with 2 1/2 tons of supplies.

"The new Progress is loaded with 1,940 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen and air, 926 pounds of water and 2,976 pounds of maintenance hardware, experiment equipment and resupply items," NASA's Space Station Flight Control Room at the Johnson Space Center stated on Tuesday.

The white and green rocket launched into a cloudless afternoon sky of blue as it soared eastward as it began it's chase to catch up with the six person crew aboard the space station.

As the Soyuz arched out over the desert, the space station orbited 225 miles above the central Atlantic Ocean, crossing the equator to begin a new orbit.

Docking is planned for Friday at 10:29 a.m., just hours before NASA launches the space shuttle Endeavour on a two week mission to resupply earth's orbiting outpost in space.

Russian Soyuz crew lifts-off bound for the space station

Russia's Soyuz pre-dawn lift-off with a crew of three. (Roscosmos)

A Soyuz rocket with two Russians and one American lifted-off today for the International Space Station from the same launch pad which sent the first human into space fifty years ago this week.

The Soyuz TMA21 spacecraft, nicknamed Yuri Gagarin in honor of the first human to sail upon the ocean of space, lifted-off with cosmonauts Aleksander Samokutyaev, Andrei Borisenko and NASA astronaut Ronald Garan inside at 6:18:20 p.m. EDT(4:18 a.m. local time Tuesday).

Riding a top a Soyuz FG rocket powered by one RD-118 center engine and four small boosters, the craft soared from the desert of western Baikonur.

The crew of three departed earth at an exact moment which favored a low fuel method to catch up with and rendezvous with the orbiting lab on Wednesday.

At launch, the space station soared 222 miles over the southern Atlantic Ocean, northeast of the Falkland Islands.

The 162-foot grey rocket's liquid-fueled engine assisted by the four RD-117 liquid-fueled engines on attached side boosters, provided 1,143,378 pounds of thrust during the first two minutes of ascent.

Nine minutes into the crew's flight, the third stage separated from the Soyuz TMA 21, and settled into an orbit of 143 x 118 miles.

A minute later, the Soyuz commander Samokutyaev began flipping switches to deploy a high gain antenna and twin solar arrays.

Two hours prior to lift-off the crew boarded their Soyuz craft dressed in their Russian launch and entry pressurized suits.

As they climbed the ladder to the Soyuz craft, they turned and waved to the ground team.

The Gagarin craft will dock to the space station on Wednesday at 7:18 p.m.

Russian launch to mark 50th anniversary of human spaceflight

Russia and the world will begin celebrations Tuesday of the golden anniversary of humankind's first steps into space with the launch of two Russians and one American aboard a Soyuz bound for the International Space Station.

It was April 12, 1961, in which Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin lifted-off from a then-secret launch site to become the first human ever to not only fly in space but to orbit the earth.

Russia in his honor has named the crew's Soyuz TMA21 spacecraft Gagarin in honor of the late-cosmonaut.

Two Cosmonauts, Soyuz commander Aleksander Samokutyaev and flight engineer Andrei Borisenko, and NASA astronaut and flight engineer Ron Garan are scheduled to lift-off aboard a Soyuz-FG rocket on April 4 at 6:18 p.m. EDT (4:18 a.m. April 5 local time), from the Baikonur Cosmosdrome in western Kazakhstan.

Lift-off will occur from the same launch pad which sent Gagarin into space fifty years earlier.

This launch will mark the twenty-fifth flight of the Soyuz FG, and the twenty-second flight to carry humans aboard.

At lift-off the Soyuz will use one RD-118 center engine and four small boosters to send the craft aloft from the desert of Baikonur.

The two stage, 162-foot grey rocket's liquid-fueled engine is assisted by the four RD-117 liquid-fueled engines on attached side boosters providing 1,143,378 pounds of thrust.

Two minutes after launch, the four boosters will separate from the core stage, and the center engine will continue it's burn for a little over two additional minutes.

As the rocket soars toward orbit, it will fly over the length of Kazakhstan toward southern China.

Forty-nine hours after launch, Samokutyaev will guide his craft to a slow docking to the space station as the trio begins a nearly six month stay aboard earth's orbiting outpost.

The Soyuz crew will spend nearly three hours shutting down systems aboard the Soyuz and preparing for hatch opening, as the station's crew prepares to open the hatch from their side.

The space station's current residents of three -- Expedition 27 commander Dmitry Kondratyev and flight engineers Paolo Nespoli of Italy and NASA astronaut Cady Coleman -- have been orbiting alone since the March 16 departure of a Soyuz TMA 01M with Russian's Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka and Expedition 26 commander and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly.

A Lt. Colonel in the Russian Air Force, Aleksander M. Samokutyaev will be making his first space flight.

Married and the father of one daughter, Samokutyaev attended military pilot school and later served as squadron leader at a helicopter training school in the Ukraine. In July 2005, he became a test cosmonaut and began training for his first flight.

Russian Andrei Borisenko will also be making hist first trip into space, and will celebrate his forty-seventh birthday ten days after docking to the orbiting lab.

The married father of two children is a non-military cosmonaut. After spending several years as a civilian in the Russian Navy, he went on to support the Russian space station MIR program and in 1999, served as a flight director from a seat inside Mission Control.

He oversaw MIR's de-orbit and destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean in March 2001, and qualified as a test cosmonaut four years later on the very same day as Samokutyaev.

The only space flight veteran of the trio, United States Air Force Colonel Ronald J. Garan flew to the space station in June 2008 as a member of space shuttle Discovery's STS-124 flight.

The two week shuttle flight delivered the Japanese Kibo module and allowed Garan to perform three spacewalks totaling nearly 21 hours combined.

Married and the father of three sons, Garan holds three degrees including one in aerospace engineering.

An F-16 pilot who flew combat missions in Desert Storm in 1991, he enjoys teaching Sunday School at a church near his home in south Houston, Texas, and occasionally coaches boys football and baseball teams as time permits.

Last May, this aerospace reporter spoke with Col. Garan and asked if he would carry with him a special 4-inch patch on his space flight.

The patch features a bird named "Meco" poised above earth's moon, and represents the Twitter-based aerospace friendly members known as the Space Tweep Society.

Founded by former Kennedy Space Center technician for the space shuttle, Jennifer Scheer, the Space Tweep Society patch is also her creation as recognition for those who enjoy to Tweet, blog or photograph activities surrounding aviation and space.

Ron messaged this journalist two weeks ago saying, " I hope to take a picture of the (MECO) patch with Earth in the background".

During the crews stay aboard station, they will bear witness to the final two space shuttle flights as Endeavour arrives on April 21 to install the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and Atlantis visits in early-July on a resupply flight.

Garan and his Russian crew mates will head home sometime in mid-September, just weeks shy of Ron's own fiftieth birthday celebration.

Russian cargo craft en route to space station

Russia launched an unmanned cargo craft to the International Space Station on Thursday evening loaded with supplies, including a small satellite and birthday presents for the commander.

Items such as a mini satellite, fuel, water, oxygen, and science experiments were included aboard the Progress M-09M craft.

A mini satellite known as the Earth Artificial Satellite, nicknamed “Kedr", measures 21.7 x 21.7 x 15.7 inches, and will be the first of several planned small satellites to be placed in earth orbit by cosmonauts during a spacewalk.

"It is designed to transmit 25 greeting messages in 15 different languages, earth photos, and telemetry data for its scientific equipment and service systems," Russian officials stated on earlier.

The 66 pound box satellite was named Kedr after Russia's first man in space, Yuri Gagarin's call sign he used.

Kedr will be "launched" during a six hour spacewalk by cosmonauts Skripochka and Kondratievon on February 16.

"Several books, magazines, sweets were loaded into the Progress for Russians Alexander Kaleri, Dmitry Kondratiev and Oleg Skripocka," the Russian Space Agency stated Tuesday. "Books by famous Russian space exploration founder Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, sent by his grandson Sergey Samburov" will also be on board.

Even a few birthday gifts flew into space which the Russian cosmonauts are scheduled to deliver to their station commander, Scott Kelly.

Kelly will celebrate his 47th birthday in February, and the package includes a note which reads “Not to open till Feb. 21”.

The Progress craft aboard a Soyuz U rocket lifted-off on time at 8:31:39 pm EST, tonight (0131 GMT on Friday), from pad 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan.

The Progress will spend two days in a lower orbit of that of the space station as it automatically flies up to and docks with the Russian Pirs module on Saturday evening at 9:40 pm (0240 GMT on Sunday).


This weekend's Progress docking will mark the third major event for the station crew in eight days.

A five hour Russian spacewalk last Friday and a Japanese cargo craft which was captured by the station's robotic arm and docked to the Harmony module on Thursday have kept the six member crew busy.

Crew members Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli round out the station's Expedition 26 crew.

Russia prepares supply craft for space station flight

The Soyuz U including the Progress 41P today. (Energia)

Russia will launch an unmanned supply craft to the International Space Station on Thursday evening loaded with fresh supplies and personal items for the crew of six in earth orbit.

Fuel, water, oxygen, science experiments and items we take for granted here on earth will be included aboard the Progress M-09M craft.

"Several books, magazines, sweets will be loaded into the Progress for Russians Alexander Kaleri, Dmitry Kondratiev and Oleg Skripocka," the Russian Space Agency stated Tuesday. "Books by famous Russian space exploration founder Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, sent by his grandson Sergey Samburov" will also be on board.

Even a secret birthday gift will fly into space which the Russian cosmonauts are scheduled to deliver to their station commander, Scott Kelly.

Kelly will celebrate his 47th birthday in February, and the package includes a note which reads “Not to open till Feb. 21”.

Launch of the Progress craft aboard a Soyuz U rocket is set for Thursday night at 8:31:39 pm EST (0131 GMT on Friday), from pad 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan.

Following an on time launch, the Progress will automatically fly up to and dock with the Russian Pirs module on Saturday evening at 9:39 pm (0239 GMT on Sunday).

This morning as the Sun began to rise over a cold, cloudless Baikonur, the Soyuz U made its way by way of rail car out to launch pad 1.

This weekend's Progress docking will mark the third major event for the station crew in eight days.

A five hour Russian spacewalk last Friday, and a Japanese cargo craft which will be captured by the station robotic arm and docked to the Harmony module twelve hours prior to Progress' launch.

Crew members Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli round out the Expedition 26 crew.

New space station crew arrives at outpost

Newly docked Soyuz craft at Space Station (NASA TV)

A manned Russian spacecraft docked to the International Space Station on Friday following it's two day chase in earth orbit.

The Soyuz TMA-20 with an American, Russian and Italian docked to the station's Rassvett module at 3:11 pm EST (2011 GMT), as the two crafts flew 224 miles high in the darkness above southwestern Africa.

Russian Dmitry Kondratyev, American Catherine "Cady" Coleman and Italian Paolo Nespoli lifted off on Wednesday afternoon from Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket bound for a six month excursion in space.

The crew of three then spent several hours completing post-docking tasks, including the opening of three select hatches prior to joining the current space station residents.

At the time of docking, the total time in which Americans have continuously lived in space is 3,697 days.

The current Expedition 26 crew of three, led by commander Scott Kelly and flight engineers Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka, grew to six with the arrival of the craft's crew members.

Soyuz commander Kondratyev, 41 and the youngest of the three, is making his first spaceflight and will later command the space station this March as a member of the Expedition 27.

Flight engineer and NASA astronaut Coleman is making her third space flight having flown aboard space shuttle Columbia twice in 1995 and 1999. She celebrated her fiftieth birthday with friends at the launch site the day before her flight began.

Flight engineer Nespoli is a European Space Agency astronaut, and is the only member of the trio to have visited the station before having flown aboard shuttle Discovery in 2007.

On Christmas Eve, much of the world will have the opportunity to view the brightest star in the night sky as the nearly 1 million pound station flies over head.

The Johnson Space Center near Houston informed this reporter that the space station will pass over several American cities for three minutes. Sky watchers need to look after sunset as the massive complex will appear as a non-flashing star heading toward the horizon.

The newly arrived crew will also mark a milestone in spaceflight this April 12, as they help the planet celebrate humankind's first trip into space. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin departed from the same launch pad in which the Soyuz launched on Wednesday.

Russia Launches Fresh Supplies to Space Station

A Russian rocket today sent aloft a spacecraft full of food and supplies bound for the six person crew of the International Space Station.

As a grocery store might deliver goods to your home, Russia launched 2.5 tons of multiple supplies up to the orbiting outpost 221 miles in space.

The night time lift-off occurred on time today at 11:11:49 am EDT (1511 GMT) from Pad 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

As the Soyuz lept from her pad, the space station flew high overhead just east of the launch site.

Two minutes after lift-off the first stage of the Soyuz separated on time as the craft speed eastward.

Space station flight engineer Shannon Walker confirmed minutes after lift-off that her Russian crew mates watched the launch from 221 miles above but that, "We (American side of station) didn't know to look for it at that time".

Mission Control near Houston expressed that a loss of signal prevented word from reaching the Americans in the Destiny module.

Progress is currently in an orbit 51.64 degrees to the equator. It's orbital time is 88 minutes, 57 seconds per revolution of the earth.

It's elliptical orbit will be adjusted by a series of burns over the next two days as it closes in on station.

On board the unmanned craft is, according to the space station's flight control room, "1,918 pounds of propellant; 1,100 pounds of oxygen; 498 pounds of water and 2,804 pounds of food, spare parts and supplies.

In total, Progress is carrying 5,670 pounds and five ounces of supplies.

The automated docking by Progress is planned for Saturday at 12:39 pm EDT (1639 GMT).

Four days later, the space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to dock with the orbiting outpost as she begins eight days of docked operations to deliver additional supplies and a storage module.

Russian Cargo Ship set for Wednesday Launch

Russian Soyuz U prepares for tomorrow's launch. (Energia)

A Russian cargo craft loaded with tons of food and supplies is ready to begin a three day trip to resupply the growing International Space Station on Wednesday.

Loaded with fuel, experiment hardware, water, air and requested personal items, the arriving craft will keep the crew of six happy and healthy for weeks to come.

The Soyuz U was transported horizontally to it's launch pad on Monday morning by way of rail car, and then moved into its vertical launch position. Crews then began the tasks of connecting both fuel and electrical connections to the rocket.

Launch of the Soyuz U rocket with the Progress M-08M supply ship is set to lift-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan tomorrow at 11:11:53 am EDT (1511 GMT).

After a three day orbital chase, the Progress craft will fly in and dock to the Russian Zevezda service module on Saturday at 12:40 pm (1640 GMT).

The Progress docking begins a busy six weeks aboard the space station.

Three days after the supply ship docks, the space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to dock to begin an eight day visit to resupply the station and deliver a permanent storage module.

A Russian spacewalk was added on Tuesday. Cosmoanuts Fiodor Yurchikin and Oleg Skipochka will begin a six hour EVA on Nov. 15 starting at 9:25 am EST.

On Nov. 30, three of the current station crew members will undock and return to earth aboard their Soyuz TMA19 craft. Two weeks later, a fresh crew of three will launch and then dock their Soyuz TMA20 to begin their six month tour of duty.

Looking ahead into 2011, January and February will also be a busy time for the Expedition 26 crew. Three unmanned cargo crafts from the European, Russian and Japanese space programs, and the American space shuttle Endeavour will head to the orbiting outpost 221 miles above to bring fresh supplies and equipment.

To the crews living aboard the station, food has always been a form of leisure and most try out their own orbiting gourmet food styles while in micro-gravity.

The space station is a very multicultural location. An astronaut or cosmonaut from one country will always enjoy a taste from a special menu prepared by the crew of a visiting country.

The Russian Space Agency stated today, "Food boxes will contain not only standard rations, but also fresh fruits and vegetables – lemons, apples, onions, tomatoes, and a kilogram of garlic".

"(Progress) will also carry high-speed data transmission equipment to be installed on the outer surface of the station during EVA (spacewalk) by Oleg Skripochka and Dmitry Kondratiev in January," the space agency added earlier today.

Space Station Crew Safely Returns Home

Two Russians and one American returned back to earth this morning after spending 177 days in earth orbit, living and working aboard the International Space Station.

Soyuz TMA18 spacecraft commander and outgoing leader of the Expedition 24 crew, Alexander Skvortsov and flight engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko touched down upon the desert of Kazakhstan, near the town of Arkalyk today at 1:23 am EDT (0523 GMT).

In space, the orbital outpost flew high off the coast of Japan and over the western Pacific Ocean as the parachutes of the Soyuz lowered the craft to the desert floor.

Earlier in the day, the departing crew of three said farewell to the ongoing crew of Expedition 25 of Doug Wheelock, Shannon Walker and Fyodor Yurchikhin, and entered their Soyuz one last time for the trip home.

Hatches were officially closed at 6:35 pm and the trio went to work powering up the crafts systems for undocking.

It was the second try in as many days to undock from the complex.

Docked to the Russian Poisk module, ground controllers in Moscow had to scrub the first undocking attempt 24 hours earlier due to an electrical issue with the sealing of the module's hatch leading to the Soyuz.

As controllers counted down the final seconds to undocking, the separation bolts were released on time and the small spacecraft sailed away from it's port-of-call for the last 174 days at 10:02 pm.

As the two spacecraft flew 222 miles high over the Russia - Mongolia boarder, Skvortsov slowly guided his ship back away from the station to prepare for a separation burn which will carry the crew swiftly away.

Firing it's engines on time, the Soyuz performed a four minute deorbit burn at 12:31 am today to slow the craft by 259 miles per hour, and allow for it to drop out of earth orbit during a precise keyhole in space.

Twenty-five minutes later, the support module attached to the Soyuz crew module was then jettisoned, exposing the heat shield and setting up the craft's change in it's attitude for reentry.

The crew's plunge into the atmosphere gave them their first effects of gravity since their April 2 launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Recovery crews aboard ground transports and Russian helicopters were on station as the module landed with a thud under a huge main chute -- kicking up dirt from it's impact on a cool late-morning Saturday.

Their stay aboard the station witnessed two space shuttle visits by Discovery and Atlantis; one Soyuz crew departure for earth and weeks later an arrival of the current Soyuz TMA 19 crew; and Caldwell-Dyson and Wheelock performed three spacewalks in August to replace and install a needed backup cooling unit for the space station.

The next crew to launch from Baikonur to the station will be aboard an upgraded Soyuz TMA 01M on October 7, docking 49 hours later to the orbital complex.

Russia Launches Cargo Craft to Space Station

A Russian Soyuz rocket lifts-off today from Kazakhstan.

The Russian Space Agency today launched an unmanned cargo craft into low earth orbit, beginning a three day chase to catch up with and dock with the International Space Station.

Loaded with 2.5 tonnes of supplies and fuel, the Progress M-07M supply ship lifted off aboard a Soyuz-U rocket at 6:22:57 am EDT (10:22 GMT) from launch pad 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the desert of western Kazakhstan.

Docking to the Russian Zvezda service modules aft section of the station is planned for Sunday at 7:58 am (11:58 GMT).

Today's successful launch was delayed two days due to high winds in excess of 32 mph in the launch area.

This newest supply trip is carrying 1,918 pounds of propellant; 110 pounds of oxygen, 375 pounds of water; and 2,645 pounds of spare parts, experiment parts and other supplies, according to NASA's Mission Control Center.

Hours after docking, the space station's crew of six -- Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Mikhail Kornienko, Doug Wheelock, Shannon Walker and Fyodor Yurchikhin -- will open the hatches between the Progress and Zvezda and begin unloading their new found bounty of life supporting treasures.

Russian Proton Launches ArabSat's BADR-5

A Russian rocket lifted-off with an advanced direct to home broadcast satellite for Arab Satellite Communications as the company increases support for Saudi Arabia and Africa.

Arabsat's BADR-5 satellite will operate in an orbital plane close to the BADR-4 and 6 satellites, broadcasting direct to home network channels, and expand Arabsat's high def channels lineup.

Liftoff of the International Launch Services Proton-M from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan occurred on time this evening at 6:00 pm EDT (2200 GMT) from launch pad 39.

This was ILS's 60th Proton launch, and the sixth Proton launch of the year.

The Proton rocket soared into the dark morning skies of the predawn as it climbed eastward and across Kazakhstan.

The booster's six RD-276 engines provided a lift-off thrust of 2.5 million pounds to loft the 1.55 million pound fully fueled rocket up and away.

Two minutes into the ascent, the first stage dropped away and the second stage's three RD-0210 engines took over to power the rocket another three and one-half minutes.

Seconds after the third stage took over at 6:05:30 pm, the protective payload cover peeled away as the craft entered the last traces of the earth's atmosphere.

Powered by a lone RD-0213 engine, the third stage's trajectory kept the craft on a due east flight plan as it began to fly high over Mongolia.

The third stage later separated from the Breeze-M upper stage. This upper stage then began to steer and place the spacecraft into it planned geostationary orbit during a series of five long burns over the next several hours.

The Breeze-M uses one main engine which supports a thrust of 4500 pounds.

At the conclusion of five insertion burns by the Breeze-M, the 11,949 pound satellite will separate high over the equator east of Africa at 3:13 am EDT on Friday.

At this point, BADR-5 will be in a planned elliptical orbit of 22,236 x 3598 miles high. Over the next few weeks, the satellite's orbital low point will be raised to ensure the craft stays in a fixed point at 26 degrees East.

BADR-5 will be placed in a geostationary orbit over central Africa at 26 degrees East where it will utilize both it's Ku-Band and Ka-Band transponders to provide more channels to a larger footprint of the middle east region.

On Monday, the 191-foot Proton-M rocket was rolled out to it's desert launch complex via railway in a horizontal position. It was then raised up to the vertical position to be connected by ground umbilicals which will provide electrical power and fuel lines.

On June 23rd, the European Space Agency will launch the Arabsat 5A from South America aboard an Ariane 5.

Space Station Crew Returns to Earth after 163 Days

Soyuz TMA17 fires breaking rockets prior to landing. (NASA)

A trio of crew members who spent six months living in space returned back to earth tonight just hours after undocking from the International Space Station.

Beautiful blue skies and 65 degrees greeted the returning crew at it's landing site in the isolated region in northern Kazakhstan.

Expedition 23 commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi landed their Soyuz TMA 17 spacecraft on target tonight at 11:25 pm EDT (9:25 am Wednesday Kazakhstan time).

"It was really a success mission for us. I really appreciate all my crew members who helped me," outgoing station commander Kotov stated on Monday during a brief change of command ceremony. "And, Alexander, I give up command of this station."

Expedition 24 commander Alexander Skvortsov and flight engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko will stay alone on the station for the next two weeks. A new crew of three -- Shannon Walker and Doug Wheelock from NASA and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin -- will then embark on their six month voyage aboard the space station with their launch from Baikonor on June 16.

Earlier they officially closed their hatch at 4:54 pm EDT which led to the vestibule. The crew then begin a series of leak checks inside the Soyuz.

Then with Kotov at the Soyuz controls, the spacecraft undocked from the Russian Zevezda module at 8:04 pm to begin the journey home.

The Soyuz then made one and one-half revolutions of the earth prior to it's deorbit burn at 10:34 pm, which slowed the spacecraft down by 258 mph to drop out of an orbit of 220 miles up.

The Soyuz then began feeling the first effects of the earth's atmosphere 32 minutes later at an altitude of 62 miles high. The tug of gravity began to also overwhelm the spacecraft, the first moments of gravity the three men have felt in 163 days.

Several Parachutes then deployed minutes before landing, followed by several breaking rockets which fired seconds before touchdown slowing the craft's speed down to 21 mph and a soft landing (above).

The two astronauts and one cosmonaut launched 163 days ago from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on December 20, and docked two days later with the Russian Zarya segment of the station.

The crew were then slowly removed from the Soyuz and placed in recliner chairs, first Kotov then Noguchi and then Creamer. Noguchi enjoyed a green apple minutes later and was able to place a satellite phone call to his wife located back in south Houston, home to the Johnson Space Center.

Expedition 24 commander Alexander Skvortsov and flight engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko will stay alone on the station for the next two weeks. A new crew of three -- Shannon Walker and Doug Wheelock from NASA and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin -- will then embark on their six month voyage aboard the space station with their launch from Baikonor on June 16.

Creamer and Noguchi will spend much of Wednesday traveling back to America, expected to land at Ellington Field at 11:00 pm Houston time on that evening.

Russia Launches Supply Craft to Space Station

The Russian Space Agency launched an unmanned spacecraft filled with fuel and supplies to the International Space Station in support of it's six member crew.

A Soyuz U rocket with the Progress M-05M lifted off today at 1:15:09 pm EDT (17:15 GMT) from Pad 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan.

This is the thirty-seventh Progress cargo craft to be sent to the space station.

The 167 foot Soyuz darted into the night sky and toward a 51.65 degree inclination to match that of earth's orbital complex in space.

The station's Expedition 23 crew includes Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer, Soichi Noguchi, Mikhail Kornienko, Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Alexander Skvortsov.

Docking of the resupply craft to the Russian Piers port is planned for Saturday afternoon at 2:34 pm (18:34 GMT).

According to the space agency in Moscow, the entire checklist of supplies aboard Progress includes:
Prop in the propulsion system tanks 870kg

Gas in the oxygen supply system containers - oxygen 50kg
Water in the Rodnik system tanks 100kg

The items in the cargo compartment 1318kg
Equipment for the systems:
gas supply system 33kg
water supply system 73kg
on-board hardware control system 5kg
Telemetry data system (BITS2-12) 2kg
Thermal control system 6kg
Telephone and telegraph system 2kg
Onboard computer system 3kg
Maintenance and repair equipment 5kg
Sanitary and hygienic items 71kg
Food containers, fresh products 325kg
Medical equipment, linen, personal hygienic and prophylactics items 155kg
On-board documentation files, crew provisions, video- and photo-equipment 35kg
Equipment for Russian crew members 42kg
Stored items (kit 9) 5kg
FGB-hardware 64kg
MRM2-hardware 53kg
USOS hardware 420kg

Total mass of the cargo delivered 2,588 kg or 5,706 pounds.

Russian mission control near Moscow told this reporter that included in the personal supplies for the "Russian crew members (are) sweets, new movies and books".

Space Station Resupply Craft Prepares for Launch

Russia's Soyuz U Prepares for Launch. (Yuznhy Space Center)

A Russian cargo spacecraft will journey into earth orbit on Wednesday carrying supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.

A Soyuz U rocket with the Progress M-05M (37) resupply craft is set to launch at 1:15 pm EDT (1715 GMT) on Wednesday, from Pad 1 at the Baikonour Cosmosdrome in Kazakhstan.

The two-stage Soyuz U rocket stands a few inches above 167-feet tall at launch. It's twenty core stage engines and eight smaller stabilizer engines provide much of the thrust during the first few minutes of flight.

This will be the thirty-seventh Progress to ferry supplies to the space station. The Progress is scheduled to dock to the Pirs Docking Compartment on Saturday afternoon.

The unmanned cargo ship will carry 110 pounds of air and oxygen; 220 pounds of water; 1,918 pounds of propellant; and 3,031 pounds of experiment hardware and spare parts for the station's six person crew.

Hours after docking, the six-member station crew will open the hatches to Progress and begin unstowing the supplies.

The current Expedition 23 crew includes Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer, Soichi Noguchi, Mikhail Kornienko, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, and Alexander Skvortsov.

The nearly 24-foot Progress uses two solar arrays to power the vehicle's time in space. Nine minutes after launch, the craft begins to deploy the arrays and a high gain antenna.

On April 22, the trash-filled older Progress M03-M (35) undocked from station to make room for the new craft's arrival. Mission control in Moscow will fire its deorbit thrusters today for three minutes at 2:05 pm EDT (10:05 pm Moscow) to send it toward a reentry where it will burn up.

During the craft's recent solo flight, a program test known as the Radar-Progress technical experiment was performed.

"The experiment is aimed at defining density, sizes and reflectivity of the ionosphere environment around the vehicle, which is caused by operations of the Progress` liquid propellant engines," Russian Space Agency public affairs told this reporter in a recent message.

Fragments of the craft are expected to splashdown at just before 3 PM EDT over the southern Pacific Ocean in a region located at 42 degrees south by 141 degrees west.

The next Progress launch is to take place in two months on June 28.

Proton-M Launches American Satellite to Orbit

An American satellite design to provide high definition television and high speed data to North America was launched from Kazakhstan today.

Liftoff of an International Launch Services Russian Proton-M occurred at 7:19:01 am EDT (1119 GMT) today, darting it's way into a warm blue sky.

The rocket's launch azimuth was 61.2 degrees.

The satellite will operate for SES World Skies from a geostationary altitude located at 101 degrees west.

Spacecraft separation from the Breeze-M upper stage is expected at 4:17 pm today, as the duo fly over the waters of the Indian Ocean just west of Somalia, Africa.