Delayed two days by high winds, an unmanned Russian supply ship is on its way to the International Space Station for a Sunday morning docking. The Progress 39 spacecraft blasted off at 6:22 a.m. EDT today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA reports.
The ship is carrying 1,918 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen, 375 pounds of water and 2,645 pounds of spare parts, experiment hardware and other supplies
Watch live NASA TV coverage of the planned 7:58 a.m. Sunday docking here by clicking on the video player at right.
The docking could be interestig -- the previous Progress flew by the station on its first attempt in July when telemetry systems failed to lock on to the outpost. That Progress 38 spacecraft departed the station Aug. 31 and burned up during atmospheric re-entry Monday.
Traffic at the station is busy as Discovery and a crew of six prepare to visit the station in November.
Half the station crew -- cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko and astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson -- are due to return to Earth in their Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft Sept. 23, ending Expedition 24.
American astronaut Doug Wheelock will take over command of the station, with American Shannon Walker and Russian Fyodor Yurchikhin staying aboard as flight engineers.
American Scott Kelly and Russians Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka are scheduled to launch Oct. 8 from Baikonur and dock two days later. Another Progress wil follow at the end of the month. Then, Discovery.
IMAGE: The ISS Progress 39 cargo craft launches on time from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA TV
1 comment:
Russia? sure...
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