This story was updated at 2:15 p.m. EDT.
A Russian space freighter hauling
fresh food, oxygen and vital spare parts for the International Space
Station's (ISS) arrived at its orbital destination Thursday after a
successful rendezvous marred by a last-minute antenna glitch.
The unmanned Progress 23 spacecraft
moored itself [image]
to an aft port on the space station's Russian-built Zvezda service module at
10:29 a.m. EDT (1429 GMT)--just one minute later than planned--as the outpost's
three Expedition
14 astronauts looked on.
"That's very good," said Expedition
14 flight engineer Mikhail
Tyurin, who watched over Progress 23's docking and was prepared to take
manual control of the automated Progress 23 vehicle should anything go awry.
After docking, Russian ISS flight
controllers could not confirm that an antenna used to aid the Progress 23's
automated KURS navigation system was fully retracted before docking at the ISS.
An early inspection by Tyurin found that the antenna appeared to be partially
extended, though video views of the area were obstructed by spacecraft
structure.
"That antenna was supposed to be
closed automatically 15 meters before docking," Russian flight controllers told
Tyurin. "Our concern is that there is going to be some structure during
retraction."
Russian flight controllers decided
to delay driving a series of hooks and latches--used to secure Progress 23 to
its Zvezda docking port--until they resolved the antenna issue, and called for
Tyurin to activate a remote docking control system aboard the ISS to control
Progress 23's systems that allowed flight controllers to take video of the
antenna, NASA commentator John Ira Petty said, adding that Tyurin could have
used the system to manually undock the cargo ship from its perch if required.
But later, photographs of the
Progress supply ship relayed to Earth by the Expedition 14 crew apparently
showed that the antenna was in fact retracted, Petty said, prompting Tyurin to
deactivate the space station's remote docking system.
After more than three hours of
scrutiny, flight controllers commanded hooks and latches on the Zvezda side of
the docked spacecraft to close on Progress 23 at about 2:01 p.m. EDT (1701
GMT), Petty said.
Hauling cargo
Without Progress 23's hooks and
latches in place, the Expedition 14 crew would not be able to open cargo ship
to get at its nearly 2.5 tons of equipment and supplies. The spacecraft was at
no point in danger of drifting free of the ISS, NASA officials said.
In addition to Tyurin, Expedition 14
commander Michael
Lopez-Alegria and flight engineer Thomas
Reiter are also serving aboard the ISS.
The antenna troubleshooting measures
required the ISS to fly in a free drift mode, rather than in a controlled
attitude, limiting the amount of power generated by the outpost's solar arrays
and forcing energy conservation measures aboard the station, NASA officials
said, adding that thrusters were later reinstated once Progress 23 was securely
mated.
Progress 23 is carrying some 4,812
pounds (2,182 kilograms) that include: 2,784 pounds (1,262 kilograms) or dry
cargo, such as food, clothing, science equipment and spare parts; 110 pounds (49
kilograms) of oxygen; and 1,918 pounds (869 kilograms) of propellant.
The spacecraft is also carrying
vital replacement parts for the Russian-built
Elektron oxygen generator [image],
which went
offline last month. Tyurin is expected to resume repair efforts on the
generator next week with the new parts.
Reiter, the first
long-duration ISS astronaut for the European Space Agency, has a special
treat awaiting him aboard Progress 23. The spacecraft carries several
gourmet meals assembled by the French celebrity chef group Alain Ducasse
Formation for special occasions, France's National Center for Space Studies
said.
Progress 23 launched
[image]
towards the ISS on Monday, but is not the only Russian cargo ship currently
docked at the ISS. An older spacecraft, Progress 22, is currently berthed at
the space station's Pirs docking compartment and is due to be discarded in
January to make way for a new supply ship.
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