A robotic Russian space freighter is cruising toward the International Space Station today after launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Loaded with more than 2.5 tons of fuel, air, water and other supplies and equipment, the Progress 28 cargo carrier is scheduled to dock at the station at 9:38 a.m. EST Thursday -- about five hours prior to the scheduled launch of shuttle Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center.
An on-time Atlantis launch would lead to a 12:24 p.m. EST Saturday shuttle docking at the station.
Launched at 8:03 a.m. EST today, the Progress is crammed full with 1,165 pounds of propellant, more than 100 pounds of oxygen, about 925 pounds of water and 2,925 pounds of dry cargo.
The cargo carrier will replace Progress 27, which was undocked from the station Monday. Filled with station trash, that craft will burn up during a destructive atmospheric reentry on Feb. 15.
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