A new Russian Progress cargo ship was launched into orbit on Sunday night (February 14) to deliver cargo to the seven crew members at the International Space Station.
Russian space agency Roscosmos launched the Progress MS-16 cargo ship, also called Progress 77, on a Soyuz rocket from site 31 of the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:45 pm EST (0445 GMT Feb 15, 10:45 am) : 06 hour from Baikonur). He will arrive at the station on Wednesday.
The Progress 77 is carrying approximately 5,424 pounds. (2,460 kg) of cargo and supplies for the crew currently on board the station. This includes 3,086 pounds (1,400 kg) of research and crew supplies (such as food and clothing), along with a supply of fresh water, nitrogen gas and propellant for the station’s Zvezda service module propulsion system.
Video: Watch Russia’s Progress 77 cargo ship take off
Related: How Russian Cargo Ships Work (Infographic)
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Tucked into the cargo fairing of its Soyuz 2.1a launcher, the Progress MS-16 spacecraft rolled onto the launch pad on Friday (February 12), before its planned launch for Sunday. In this way, ground crews could finish their final flight preparations.
THE Soyuz it is a 152 foot (46 meter) three-stage launch vehicle. He was expected to follow a northeast trajectory after launch, discarding his four belt thrusters approximately two minutes after launch. The second stage of the rocket, (also called the central stage) is powered by an RD-108A engine designed to continue firing for approximately three more minutes before passing the reins to the third stage of the rocket – an RD-0110 engine.
Once the rocket reached a certain altitude, the fairings fell to expose the Progress MS-16 spacecraft, which separated from the upper stage of the propeller nine minutes after the flight to make its way to the space station.
After separation, the Progress spaceship it must unfurl its solar panels and navigation antennas. Then it will line up with the space station and prepare to dock with the Russian-made Pirs module on Wednesday (February 17) at 1:20 AM EST (0620 GMT).
The Pirs module is a docking door on the Zvezda service module that functions as an air lock for station crew members to use when conducting Russian-led spacewalks. Pirs is scheduled to be removed when the Progress 77 spacecraft finishes its mission in July.
In your place, Roscosmos will bring a long-awaited new addition: the Nauka laboratory. This will mark the biggest addition to the Russian segment of the space station since the Zvezda module was installed in 2000. (There is another port similar to Pirs, called Poisk, that will remain on the station.)
Related: The International Space Station now houses the world’s first commercial tube
The Progress spacecraft is an untractioned freighter that looks a lot like its crewed counterpart, the Soyuz spaceship, which is used to transport astronauts to and from the space station. The main difference is that Progress is used to transport cargo and is also designed to burn when it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere, while Soyuz will land back on Earth.
Since Progress vehicles are disposable, they are usually loaded with garbage and other items to be discarded before starting a course to burn in Earth’s atmosphere, usually in a remote Pacific Ocean region.
Progress 77 is the first of two cargo deliveries planned for the space station within a week. On Saturday (February 20), a US-built Cygnus spacecraft is due to be launched from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on its own two-day trip to the space station.
Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly defined the Progress 77’s docking day. It’s Wednesday (February 17), not Tuesday.
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