An unmanned
spacecraft docked at the International Space Station (ISS) with ease Saturday,
delivering a fresh batch of food, oxygen and other vital supplies to the two
astronauts working onboard the orbital laboratory.
The
automated Russian-built cargo ship Progress 19 appeared to perform flawlessly
as it docked at the aft end of the space station's Zvezda service module at
10:42 a.m. EDT (1442 GMT), a full eight minutes earlier than expected.
ISS
Expedition 11 commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips - the
station's current crew - watched over the supply ship's arrival and were
prepared to take over control of the spacecraft remotely if necessary. A
failure in the automated guidance system of the last cargo ship to visit the
ISS - Progress 18 - forced Krikalev to take command.
But that
was not the case today and Progress 19 reached its berth with no need for
intervention by the ISS crew.
"Congratulations
on the docking and also a belated happy birthday to you," Nikolai Sevastianov, chief
of the Russian aerospace contractor RSC Energia, told Krikalev after docking.
Krikalev
celebrated his 47th birthday on Aug. 27, and has spent more days in
space during his lifetime than any other astronaut.
Progress 19's
docking ended a two-day flight for the supply craft, which began with a Sept. 8
launch
from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan.
Stowed aboard
the cargo ship is more than 5,175 pounds (2,347 kilograms) of material, among
which are 1,760 pounds (798 kilograms) of propellant, 242 pounds (109
kilograms), more than 459 pounds (208 kilograms) of water and about 2,700
pounds (1,224 kilograms) of dry cargo.
Russian
flight controllers went over plans for opening Progress 19, which called for
hatch opening at about 1:45 p.m. EDT (1745 GMT) today and the first unloading operations
to begin Sunday.
"That
sounds good to me," Krikalev responded.
One of the
key items aboard Progress 19 is a replacement liquids unit for the space
station's Russian-built Elektron oxygen generator.
The
generator, the primary source of oxygen aboard the ISS, failed
earlier this year. Krikalev and Phillips have relied on oxygen stored in tanks
aboard past Progress ships and solid fuel oxygen generators (SFOGs), known as
"candles."
NASA
officials said the new liquids unit should help Krikalev and Phillips repair
the Elektron unit, an activity scheduled to begin Sept. 15.
Russian
Progress cargo ships make regular resupply flights to the ISS and were a vital
asset to maintaining the space station when NASA grounded its space shuttle
fleet following the loss of the Columbia orbiter and its crew in 2003. While
the space shuttle Discovery recently visited the ISS this year
during its July-August flight, the need to reduce external tank foam shedding -
which also doomed Columbia - and damage to key NASA facilities by Hurricane
Katrina have left the next shuttle launch date in limbo.
NASA
officials said that Progress 19 was fitted with 14 extra tanks for its supply
run, which allowed it to deliver an additional 132 pounds (59 kilograms) of
oxygen to the ISS.
The
spacecraft also delivered supplies for the ISS Expedition 12
crew, commanded by Bill McArthur of NASA with cosmonaut Valery Tokarev serving
as flight engineer. The two astronauts are set to launch spaceward late Sept.
30 (though it will be Oct. 1 at their Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site) with
space tourist Greg Olsen.
Krikalev
and Phillips will return to Earth with Olsen on Oct. 11, NASA officials said.
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