The Progress MS-02 space vehicle successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on April 2, bringing supplies for the crew aboard the orbiting outpost. The 3 tons of payload includes air, food, fuel and life support equipment.
The Progress 63P cargo mission's vehicle launched to the ISS on a Soyuz 2.1a rocket. This was the second successful flight of that launch system since a failure of one of the rockets in April 2015. The first human-occupied flight of the new Soyuz-MS spacecraft is scheduled for June 2016.
"The docking of the Progress 63 vehicle marked the second cargo ship in as many weeks to arrive at the station. Up next is the scheduled launch of the SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply vehicle on April 8 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida," NASA officials reported on their website.
Now that the Progress 63P cargo capsule has reached the ISS, astronauts will be able to partake of the food supplies aboard the craft, including grapefruit, oranges, apples, garlic and onions. This marks the fifth supply capsule currently docked to the orbiting outpost.
A Tomsk-TPU-120 microsatellite, created on a 3D printer, is among the cargo that has recently arrived at the space station. This satellite will be launched by the occupants of the ISS during an upcoming spacewalk.
The International Space Station orbits roughly 250 miles above the surface of the Earth. The first segment of the station was launched into orbit in 1998, and has since become the largest and most expensive vehicle ever flown in space. The orbiting outpost, with up to six inhabitants on board, races around our planet at an average velocity of more than 4.75 miles per second.
The supply craft reached orbit just 9 minutes after launch before completing 34 orbits of the Earth prior to docking. Final rendezvous maneuvers were carried out by the automated Kurs docking system as the craft orbited above the city of Astana, Kazakhstan.
The next supply mission to the ISS will be managed by SpaceX, utilizing a Dragon spacecraft. This mission is scheduled to arrive at the space station on April 10. If successful, this will be the third craft to arrive at the ISS over the same number of weeks.
