Russia’s ‘Progress-M28M’ Cargo Spacecraft Successfully Docks With ISS

The Russian Soyuz/Progress 59 mission failed after the cargo vessel separated from the Soyuz booster rockets third stage and spun wildly out of control in April 2015 and eventually crashed weeks later during an uncontrolled plummet back to Earth over the ocean.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials emphasized after each failed cargo launch that the space station’s crew was in no danger of running low on essential supplies. Earlier this week, a U.S.-designed Falcon rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., exploded soon after launch, apparently because an oxygen tank burst, said SpaceX, the rockets manufacturer.

The current crew consists of Russian astronauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko and NASA’s Scott Kelly.

Astronauts aboard the global Space Station (ISS) breathed a collective sigh of relief after receiving much-needed supplies thanks to the ISS resupply mission.

Keeping the orbiting laboratory loaded with food and water actually is rocket science, so planners err on the side of caution.

If Friday’s launch fails, NASA could delay its plans to put all six crew members aboard, according to Clayton Anderson, a ex- astronaut who has done a tour on the station.

The ship is carrying more than two metric tons of oxygen, fuel, food, water, scientific equipment and also personal packages for the men. For the next two days, it will orbit Earth until its speed relative to the ISS brings it into close proximity. Assuming the Progress M-28M docks as expected Sunday, it will extend the outpost’s consumables by a month to November.

Orbital ATK, however, is preparing for its fourth ISS cargo delivery under a $1.9 billion NASA contract this fall using a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 as the launch vehicle for its Cygnus capsule.

The SpaceX Falcon9 rocket was boosting a Dragon supply capsule stocked with a spacesuit, water filtration equipment, food, water, and experiments submitted by students.

“The transport cargo ship Progress M-28M has docked with the…”

And in October 2014, a rocket on a resupply mission had to be detonated, when its launch went awry right after liftoff. The duo explored the dynamic forces the station experiences caused by mission events such as vehicle dockings and spacewalks including internal activities like physical exercise.