A Russian
cargo ship launched toward the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday
laden with food, water and holiday cheer for the two astronauts living aboard
the orbital laboratory.
The
unmanned Progress 20 supply ship successfully rode a Russian-built Soyuz rocket
spaceward at about 1:38 p.m. EST (1838 GMT) in a flight staged from Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Progress 20 is slated to arrive at the space station
on Dec. 23.
"For us,
Santa's sleigh is arriving the day before Christmas Eve," NASA astronaut Bill
McArthur, the station's Expedition 12 commander, told reporters this week. "We'll
begin to unpack our new cargo ship on Christmas."
McArthur
and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, representing the Federal Space Agency as Expedition
12 flight engineer, are in the second month of their six-month trip to the ISS,
and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Progress 20.
About 5,680
pounds (2,576 kilograms) of cargo is tucked aboard the Progress 20 supply ship.
That includes about 463 pounds (210 kilograms) of water, 183 pounds (83
kilograms) of oxygen and air, and 1,940 pounds (879 kilograms) pounds of
propellant for the station.
Most of the
cargo - about 3,100 pounds (1,406 kilograms) - is in the form of dry supplies,
such as experiment hardware, spare parts and other useful equipment.
The vehicle
is also ferrying some holiday treats, such as Christmas gifts, personal messages
and other goodies for McArthur and Tokarev, NASA officials said.
Progress 20
was originally slated to replace a previous cargo ship, Progress
19, at the aft end of the space station's Russian-built Zvezda service module,
which the Expedition 12 crew was set to discard on Dec. 20.
Russian
flight controllers, however, opted to keep Progress 19 at its berth until March
2006 to allow McArthur and Tokarev additional time to cram more trash and
unneeded items into the expendable vehicle. Progress 19 is expected to burn up
in the Earth's atmosphere during reentry.
Meanwhile,
Progress 20 will dock at the station's Pirs docking compartment, which is
typically reserved for crew-carrying Soyuz spacecraft.
NASA
officials told SPACE.com that Progress vehicles have used the Pirs docking
port in the past, such as the Progress
11 cargo tug during Expedition 7.
McArthur
and Tokarev are scheduled to return to Earth in early April 2006 after
welcoming their relief crew, Expedition 13's Jeffrey Williams and Pavel
Vinogradov in March, Russian space officials have said.
Marcos
Pontes, Brazil's first astronaut, is also slated to launch toward the ISS
with the Expedition 13 crew.
Progress 20
is currently scheduled to dock at the ISS at 2:55 p.m. EST (1955 GMT) on Dec.
23.
NASA TV
will broadcast the cargo ship's ISS arrival beginning at 2:00 p.m. EST (1900
GMT).
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