Another Russian space cargo ship has successfully reached orbit and is now bound to go all the way to the International Space Station (ISS) for a resupply mission. The Soyuz-U rocket disembarked from the Progress 60 spacecraft, which was launched from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan leased by Russia.
The spacecraft was launched according to plan at 12:55 a.m. Eastern time and reached the orbit approximately 10 minutes after. The cargo ship contains over three tons of food, fuel, science experiments and other supplies that the astronauts aboard the ISS can use to further their missions.
Based on estimates, the ship will arrive at the ISS at around 3:13 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday, July 5. The two-day transit time is expected due to the difference in the orbital path and mechanics of the spaceship and the ISS.
Before the successful launch, three resupply missions failed to achieve their target of making it to the ISS. Three different space launch providers were responsible for the failed attempts. In October 2014, the Antares cargo ship of the U.S. company Orbital Sciences exhibited a launch pad failure.
This was followed by another failed attempt, this time by the earlier Progress spaceship, under the same Russian company.
The latest failed effort was the SpaceX Falcon 9, which exploded minutes after liftoff. Although several attempts have failed, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ensures that the astronauts aboard the ISS have sufficient supplies that can last until October 2015.
The success of the recent Russian cargo ship launch may be due to the efficient detection of the failures that transpired during the April launch. Officials were able to identify that there was a leak from the oxidizer and fuel tanks in the third stage of the booster.
The cause for this event is an unspecified defect in the interface of the cargo ship and the latest Soyuz changes, called the Soyuz 2. The Soyuz-U rocket used during the latest successful launch is actually an older subtype of the ship and has been the focus of Russian and Soviet space for about 50 years. The Russian space agency then decided that they will only utilize the Soyuz modification after the experts have clearly identified what exactly went wrong during the April launch.
The next space launch will take place on July 22. The launch will involve NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko joining the ISS crew. The next cargo ship resupply mission will be manned by a robotic Japanese HTV ship, which is due to fly in August.
Photo: Raymond Shobe | Flickr
