Russian cosmonauts on the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) took guide management of an incoming cargo ship carrying tons of provides after its automated rendezvous system suffered a glitch.
The unpiloted cargo ship, referred to as Progress 86, docked to the station’s Russian-built Poisk module underneath distant management by Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who tracked its method from contained in the ISS. Kononenko took management of the cargo ship remotely utilizing a system referred to as TORU, whereas the Progress 86 craft was flying across the station at a spread of about 150 meters, apparently because of a problem with the cargo ship’s personal Kurs automated rendezvous system.
“Throughout the flyaround, the Progress car began drifting away from the anticipated perspective and was not aligned with the docking goal,” NASA spokesperson Anna Schneider stated throughout stay commentary. “The crew aboard the Worldwide Area Station has taken over guide management and recovered the anticipated perspective.”
Kononenko docked the Progress 86 spacecraft with the ISS at 6:18 a.m. EDT (1118 GMT), ending a two-day spaceflight that started Friday (Dec. 1) with a profitable launch atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The cargo ship accomplished 37 orbits of Earth earlier than docking.
“Contact confirmed, seize confirmed,” Kononenko radioed to Roscosmos mission management close to Moscow. The Progress 86 and ISS have been crusing 260 miles over the western Pacific Ocean.
Progress 86 is carrying 5,600 kilos (2,540 kilograms) of provides for the seven crewmembers at present residing and dealing on the ISS. That haul consists of meals, gear, provides and science experiment gear tp be utilized by long-duration crews throughout their six-month stays on the station.
Russia’s Progress spacecraft are one in all a number of totally different automobiles used to periodically resupply the ISS. They’re disposable and are designed to dissipate in Earth’s ambiance on the finish of their months-long missions. SpaceX’s Dragon cargo ships and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft additionally resupply the station.
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