14 DAY TRIAL // Since Columbia's disaster two years ago, the only supply link to the astronauts on the International Space Station has been the Russian space program. In a situation where all American shuttles have been grounded for safety reasons, the modules launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome have been the one thing keeping mankind in space.
The latest module to leave towards ISS has been the Progress M-53 cargo ship, which lifted off Friday morning, at around 3:10 a.m. Moscow time (2310 GMT).
Today, the Russian cargo ship has docked at the International Space Station (ISS) with food, water and oxygen supplies and other equipment.
But the docking was not without incidents. The automated guidance system on board the Progress failed, ISS commander Sergei Krikalev being forced to remote control it from the space station's Zvezda service module.
The equipment transported from Earth consists of parts for the Elektron oxygen generation system which has been out of service for several weeks.
In August, another Progress cargo ship will supply another key part of the Elektron, Moscow and Houston hoping to reactivate the oxygen generation system.