14 DAY TRIAL // The cargo ship Progress M-63 has been launched yesterday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, in a mission to resupply the International Space Station before the arrival of the Atlantis space shuttle, which is set to launch tomorrow from the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. The spacecraft lifted off at 4:03 p.m. local time, with more than 2,75 tons of supplies on-board, amongst which various equipment and gifts.
It will dock on Thursday, with only a few hours before the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis into STS-122 mission, which is supposed to take the European space module Columbus to the ISS. Valery Lyndin, the spokesperson of Russia's Mission Control, stated that the launch took place without experiencing any problems and that the spacecraft had already entered the designated orbit that would take it to the rendez-vous with the space station.
The Progress M-63 freighter is carrying oxygen, water and food for the crew of the ISS, along with a series of several experiments and scientific equipment. The spacecraft is carrying the serial number 363, and is often referred to as Progress 28P. Progress spacecrafts are routinely used by the international space community to deliver supplies and experiments to the space station. Usually, they conduct four or five such missions each year.
After being unloaded of the precious cargo, Progress spacecrafts may occasionally remain attached to the ISS for a few months, in order to be filled by waste collected between resupplies. The oldest of spacecrafts are deorbited and sent towards the Earth atmosphere, where they will disintegrate, as soon as a new spacecraft arrives. The Progress M-62 spacecraft has been deorbited just yesterday in anticipation of the arrival of the M-63 freighter.
The Progress spacecrafts are direct descendants of the Soyuz spacecrafts, that have also been used by the Russians for resupply purposes, starting with the Salyut 6 space station program. This is the 28th mission of the Progress spacecrafts since the beginning of the ISS program, and the fourth orbital flight of the year.