Derek Richardson
December third, 2023
A file photograph of Progress MS-21 departing the area station in February 2023. Progress MS-25 arrrived on the ISS on Dec. 3, 2023, and docked with the Poisk module. Credit score: NASA
Russia’s uncrewed Progress MS-25 cargo spacecraft docked with the Worldwide House Station to resupply the seven-person Expedition 70 crew residing aboard the outpost.
The spacecraft launched atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket at 4:25 a.m. EST (09:25 UTC) Dec. 1 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to start a two-day rendezvous profile. Progress MS-25 docked with the space-facing Poisk module at 6:18 a.m. EST (11:18 UTC) Dec. 3.
Throughout method to the area station, which is normally automated, there was an alignment subject that required Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko to take over handbook management remotely from contained in the ISS. The difficulty occurred through the flyaround part of rendezvous whereas Progress was about 180 meters away from the outpost. Kononenko used the TORU docking system contained in the station’s Zvezda module to information the automobile again into alignment earlier than manually docking the spacecraft.
Progress MS-25 launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit score: Roscosmos
Aboard the cargo freighter is a few 5,600 kilos (2,500 kilograms) of provides, together with meals, consumables, experiments and {hardware}. Progress MS-25 will stay on the ISS for about six months, throughout which era it’ll be unloaded of its contents and reloaded with trash and unneeded tools.
On the finish of Progress MS-25’s mission, it’ll undock from the ISS and carry out a deorbit burn to reenter the ambiance over the South Pacific Ocean. As a result of Progress spacecraft will not be designed to return to Earth, it’ll deplete within the ambiance.
This was the identical destiny of Progress MS-23, which undocked from the Poisk module on Nov. 29 to make approach for Progress MS-25. Progress MS-23 had been on the area station since Might of this 12 months.
Progress MS-25 joins 5 different visiting spacecraft on the ISS: Russia’s Progress MS-24 resupply spacecraft; Soyuz MS-24, which introduced three area station crew members to the outpost in September; Northrop Grumman’s NG-19 Cygnus cargo ship; SpaceX’s Crew-7 Dragon, which introduced 4 folks to the ISS in August; and SpaceX’s CRS-29 Dragon cargo ship.
Each CRS-29 Dragon and NG-19 Cygnus are anticipated to depart earlier than the tip of the 12 months. Solely the Dragon cargo spacecraft might be recovered following a parachute assisted splashdown in waters off the coast of Florida.
A graphic exhibiting the spacecraft presently docked to the Worldwide House Station. Credit score: Derek Richardson / Spaceflight Insider / Orbital Velocity
Video courtesy of SciNews
Derek Richardson
Derek Richardson has a level in mass media, with an emphasis in up to date journalism, from Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas. Whereas at Washburn, he was the managing editor of the scholar run newspaper, the Washburn Assessment. He additionally has a web site about human spaceflight referred to as Orbital Velocity. You could find him on twitter @TheSpaceWriter.
