Russian Cargo Vessel Arrives at Station

Image credit: NASA

A Russian Progress 11 cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station today, after spending three days catching up to it in orbit. The Progress reached the station at 1115 GMT (7:15am EDT) and docked automatically to the Pirs Docking Compartment on the Zvezda Service Module. On board the ship is more than two tonnes of food, fuel, water, supplies and scientific gear. This makes a total of three ships docked to the space station, including another Progress ship and the Soyuz that delivered the current crew.

An unmanned Russian resupply craft successfully docked to the International Space Station this morning, delivering more than two tons of food, fuel, water, supplies and scientific gear to the Expedition 7 crew aboard the complex.

The Progress 11 vehicle automatically linked up to the Pirs Docking Compartment attached to the Zvezda Service Module over Central Asia at 6:15 a.m. Central time (1115 GMT) three days after its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. As the Progress neared Pirs for docking, Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu were in Zvezda, monitoring its approach. At the time of contact and capture, the ISS was flying over Central Asia at an altitude of 240 statute miles. After conducting leak checks to insure a tight seal between the Progress and the ISS, Malenchenko and Lu will open the hatch to the ship and begin to unload its cargo.

Stowed in the Progress are replacement parts for environmental systems in both the U.S. and Russian segments of the Station, office supplies, two tanks of potable water, and some clothing items for the two crewmembers. Also aboard the Progress are two experiment kits for European Space Agency cosmonaut Pedro Duque, who will launch in October on the Soyuz TMA-3 vehicle with the Expedition 8 crew for about a week?s worth of scientific research on the ISS under a contract between ESA and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. Duque will return to Earth with Malenchenko and Lu in the Soyuz TMA-2 vehicle currently docked to the Station.

The arrival of the new Progress puts three Russian vehicles at the ISS. Docked to the aft port of Zvezda is the Progress 10 resupply craft that arrived at the Station on February 4, and docked to the Zarya Module is the Soyuz TMA-2 vehicle that brought Malenchenko and Lu to the ISS on April 28.

Original Source: NASA News Release