Russian Cargo Ship Launches Toward Space Station

A Russian Soyuz rocket soars into a blue sky carrying the unmanned cargo ship Progress 34 toward the International Space Station on July 24, 2009. The rocket launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (Image credit: RSC Energia.)

An unmannedRussian cargo ship launched toward the International Space Station Friday while13 astronauts inside the outpost geared up for a tough spacewalk.

TheProgress 34 cargo ship lifted off at 6:56 a.m. EDT (1056 GMT), though it wasmid-afternoon at its Central Asian launch site as it soared into orbit fromBaikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. At the time, the linked space station andshuttle Endeavour flew 218 miles (350 km) above Sapporo, Japan.

Russia?sMission Control radioed news of the successful launch to Russian cosmonautGennady Padalka, who is currently commanding the station?sExpedition 20 crew.

?Perfect!We?ll be waiting for it,? Padalka replied. ?Maybe they?ll bring something freshfor us.?

The Progress34 cargo ship, known in Russia as M-67, is carrying 2 1/2 tons of freshsupplies for the station?s core six-man crew and is due to arrive Wednesday, aday after Endeavour?s crew departs.

Packedaboard the space freighter are 110 pounds (50 kg) of oxygen, 463 pounds (210kg) of water and 2,718 pounds (1,232 kg) of dry cargo like spare parts andscience gear. The cargo ship is also delivering about 1,830 pounds (830 kg) ofpropellant that can be used to tweak the station's orbit when required.

Padalka andhis crew are in the middle of a packed construction mission with theseven Endeavour astronauts. The shuttle arrived last week to boost thestation?s population to 13, its highest ever.

A stationtoilet broke early in the mission, but was swiftly repaired to the relief ofthe crowded station?s joint-crew.

Endeavour astronautshave delivered a new crewmember and a Japanese experiment porch to the stationwhile docked at the orbiting laboratory. They are performing the fourthof five spacewalks for the mission today to replace the station?s oldestsolar array batteries.

The shuttlecrew is slated to undock on Tuesday and land July 31.

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Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.