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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

Russian Soyuz U launch Space Station Supplies

A Russian rocket lifted-off on time this morning carrying fresh supplies and fuel for the five member crew of the International Space Station.

A Soyuz U LV rocket launched into the beautiful, but cold blue skies of Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan at 10:45:30 pm EST Tuesday evening (345 GMT) or 9:45:30 am Baikonur time this morning.

The rocket darted upward and eastward out toward Mongolia carrying the Progress M-04M unmanned supply vehicle -- the 36th cargo filled vehicle bound for the space station.

Loaded with some 5,600 pounds of supplies such as fuel, water, food, personal crew items, experiments and hardware, the Progress solar arrays deployed minutes after reaching orbit.

Following a two day orbital ballet and rendezvous, the Progress is scheduled to automatically dock with the Russian Zevezda service module section of the station on Thursday evening at 11:26 pm EST (426 GMT).

Space station Russian cosmonauts Maxim Suraev and Oleg Kotov will assist with the cargo ship's docking, and take over manually if the auto sequencer fails to bring the ship into a proper docking alignment.

Commander Jeffery Williams and Flight Engineers Soichi Noguchi (Japan) and T.J. Creamer round out the space station's Expedition 22 crew of five.

New Russian Poisk Module set for Launch

A new Russian docking module is destined to become a critical piece for the International Space Station as the country delivers a multifaceted docking port in support of space travel during the next decade.

The Russian Space Agency's Mini Research Module-2, or Poisk, will dock to the station's Zvezda service module two days following launch. It will serve as a docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft; will support future Russian spacewalks from it's 3-foot wide airlock; and act as a spare room for some of the crew's equipment in support of docking or spacewalks.

Launch of the Soyuz U rocket with the Poisk MRM-2 is planned for this Tuesday, November 10 at 9:22:01 am EST, (14:22 GMT) from launch complex 17P32 Pad 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. The launch window is five minutes.

The new module will launch with 2,204 pounds of cargo in the pressurized section. New Russian Orlan spacesuits, science equipment and life support equipment will get a ride to the orbiting outpost in space.

Docking to the Russian Zvezda module by the Poisk is targeted for Nov. 12 at 10:44 am EST, or 15:44 UTC. Docking will likely occur a few minutes earlier based on a successful rendezvous

Built by RSC Energia, the MRM-2 Poisk hardware will allow for a fourth Russian spacecraft to dock with station as the need for new equipment and fresh supplies increases with the end of the space shuttle program during the first half of the 2010's.

There are also attachment points for future science experiments which will need the vacuum of space.


There are 523 cubic-feet of pressurized volume aboard Poisk, of that 380 are habitable for the crew.

The 8-ton module has a hull diameter of 8 feet and a length of 13 feet and 3 inches.

On June 10th, two spacewalkers replaced a door in the forward section of Zvezda with a docking cone which will allow for Piosk's docking.

In May 2010, the MRM-1 will launch aboard shuttle Atlantis for docking to the space station. MRM-2 was completed ahead of schedule, thus it's launching was moved up in support of future docked operations.

Russian Soyuz U launches cargo to Station

A Russian Space Agency rocket lofted a major cargo craft into earth orbit early on Thursday morning, beginning a three day journey bound for the International Space Station.

Lift-off from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan occurred tonight at 9:14:37 pm EDT (5:14:37 am Moscow time) from Pad 1 . The Soyuz upper stage with the Progress M-03M supply ship arrived in a low orbit ten minutes later. The Progress will continue to fly lower than the space station's 222 mile high orbit to allow the craft to catch up and dock on Saturday.

The two stage rocket's on time launch is the first of three main flights from here in Kazakhstan to the station before December. A new station docking segment and two new crew members aboard a Soyuz TMA17 are scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks.

On board the Progress is 1,918 pounds of propellant and fuel; 926 pounds of water; 110 pounds of oxygen and air; and 1,750 pounds of spare parts and supplies for the station's crew, according to the Johnson Space Center.

This 35th Progress cargo craft will orbit earth in a lower orbit than that of the station in order to rendezvous early on. The craft's automatic docking to the Russian Pirs docking port is scheduled for Saturday evening at 9:41 pm EDT.

The orbital outpost was high over southeastern Russia at the time of the Soyuz U booster launch. (Images via Yuzhny Space Center)

Russia to launch supply craft to Space Station

The Russian Space Agency will launch a Soyuz rocket tonight with a cargo craft filled with fresh supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station.

Launch of a Soyuz U rocket with the Progress M-03M resupply craft is targeted for tonight at 9:14 pm EDT (01:14 GMT) from Launch Complex 17P32's Pad 1. The launch window is five minutes.

The Soyuz U (above) was rolled out to it's launch pad at the Bakinour launch site yesterday.

"The Progress is carrying 1,918 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen and air, 926 pounds of water and 1,750 pounds of spare parts and supplies for the Expedition 21 crew," according to the Johnson Space Center.

The three stage, 168-foot Soyuz U will liftoff with the thrust from four RD-117 min engines and several smaller thrusters to control pitch and steady it's climb to orbit.

The 35th Progress cargo craft will spend nearly two days catching up with the space station prior to docking to the Russian Pirs Docking port on Saturday evening at 9:41 pm EDT.

Expedition 21 Commander Frank De Winne and Flight Engineers Bob Thirsk, Roman Romanenko, Jeff Williams, Nicole Stott and Max Suraev are the current six person crew aboard the station and will monitor the craft's automatic docking.