The International Space
Station has received a new load of supplies from the latest Russian-built cargo
freighter, which successfully docked to the outpost at 3:24 p.m. EDT today.
The Progress M-02M ship attached itself
to the Earth-facing port on the Pirs docking module in orbital darkness while
flying 218 miles above the border between Mongolia and China. It's the 33rd
such spacecraft sent to the station over the past decade.
The space
station is occupied by the Expedition 19 crew of commander Gennady Padalka
and flight engineers Michael Barratt and Koichi Wakata.
"Everything is stable.
The vehicle is moving steadily and stably, like a very important person,"
Padalka told the ground as the Progress neared the linkup.
Padalka was standing by to
manually dock the Progress if the automated system experienced a problem.
However, all went according to plan.
"Congratulations from
the ground, guys," Mission Control radioed.
"We were just
observers for this operation," Padalka replied.
The "dry" cargo
tucked aboard the Progress amounts to 3,384 pounds in the form of spare parts,
life support gear and equipment hardware.
The refueling module
carries 1,918 pounds of propellant for transfer into the Russian segment of the
complex to feed the station's maneuvering thrusters. And the vessel has 110
pounds of oxygen and air.
The vessel was launched last Thursday
from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It took a longer-than-usual trek to
catch up with the station, spending a few extra days in free-flight to test new
avionics, according to NASA.
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