The maneuver went on flawlessly, astronauts report

Apr 23, 2012 09:54 GMT  ·  By
This is the RosCosmos Progress 47 capsule, seen here just before it docked to the ISS, on April 22, 2012
   This is the RosCosmos Progress 47 capsule, seen here just before it docked to the ISS, on April 22, 2012

Yesterday, April 22, the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) Progress 47 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station, delivering more than 2.5 tons of supplies to the Expedition 30 crew.

The cargo includes scientific experiments, food, water, propellant for the ISS thrusters, and personal items for the six crewmembers. The docking procedure ended successfully at 10:39 am EDT (1439 GMT), Mission Control reports.

At the time of the docking, the two spacecraft were flying over northern China, at an altitude of about 249 miles (400 kilometers). Progress 47 caught up with the space lab after spending two days in orbit.

The spacecraft took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in the Kazakh steppe, at 8:50 EDT (1250 EDT) on April 20, aboard a Soyuz medium-lift delivery system. It reached its first transfer orbit just 10 minutes after launch.

On Thursday, April 19, the Progress 46 spacecraft – filled with trash and unneeded materials – undocked from the ISS, and entered a stable orbit around the planet. After Progress 47 occupies the dock the former capsule just made available, the Progress 46 will be set ablaze high in the atmosphere.

The newly-arrived cargo capsule carried 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of oxygen, 420 kilograms (926 pounds) of water, 901 kilograms (1,988 pounds) of fuel and 1,226 kilograms (2,703 pounds) of other items, Space reports.

Expedition 30 crewmembers have a very busy schedule ahead. On Friday, April 27, three of them are scheduled to return home. Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishi, and NASA astronaut Daniel Burbank, will head for the Kazakh steppes aboard the Soyuz TMA-22 space capsule.

The trio will be replaced by cosmonauts Gennady Padalka (fourth mission) and Sergei Revin (first mission), both of RosCosmos, and NASA astronaut Joseph M. Acaba, who is also at his first spaceflight. They will use the Soyuz TMA-04M capsule to launch to the ISS on May 15, 2012.

After the first half of Expedition 30 departs, the station will receive a visit from the first privately built spacecraft ever to attempt an orbital docking maneuver. The Dragon capsule is being developed by Hawthorne, California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX).

If this flight is successful, then NASA will know that it took the correct decision to support the private spaceflight industry after ending the Space Shuttle Program, in mid-2011.