NASA Space Station Status Report 25 December 2004
A new Russian cargo spacecraft is now docked with the International Space
Station. The Progress vehicle and Station successfully linked up this
evening, completing a two-day Christmas journey to deliver 5,000 pounds of
food, fuel, oxygen, water, supplies and holiday gifts to the Expedition 10
crew.
The Progress automatically docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service
Module at 6:58 p.m. EST as the Station flew 225 statute miles over central
Asia. Within minutes, hooks and latches between the two ships engaged,
forming a tight seal. The docking occurred about 30 minutes later than
planned so that the linkup could occur over Russian ground stations with the
benefit of television from the cargo ship and real-time data. This is the
16th Progress to dock with the Station.
As the Progress moved in for its linkup, Expedition 10 Flight Engineer
Salizhan Sharipov was at the controls of a manual docking system in Zvezda,
ready to take over the Progress’ final approach in the unlikely event its
automated docking system encountered a problem. But the docking was
flawless. Expedition 10 Commander and NASA Station Science Officer Leroy
Chiao was nearby, taking video and still photos of the Progress arrival.
Launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, the
Progress is loaded with 1,234 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen and
air to help maintain the Station’s atmosphere, 926 pounds of water and more
than 2,700 pounds of spare parts, life support system components and
experiment hardware. The manifest also includes 69 containers of food, which
is about a 112-day supply.
After an extended sleep period this evening, the crew will be awakened
tomorrow morning to conduct leak checks at the hatch interface between the
Progress and Zvezda. They will open the Progress hatch shortly after 1 p.m.
EST tomorrow to begin unloading its cargo.
Among the new items that arrived at the Station are laptop computers, new
spares for U.S. spacesuits and components for the arrival next year of the
European Automated Transfer Vehicle cargo spacecraft.
Information about crew activities on the Space Station, future launch dates
and Station sighting opportunities from Earth, is available on the Internet
at:
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