Progress Cargo Ship En Route to ISS

The Progress M-14M being readied for launch at the Baikonour Cosmodrome (Credits: S.P. Korolev/RSC Energia).

On January 26, a Progress M-14M cargo ship successfully launched aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonour Cosmodrome. The ship is due to arrive at the ISS on January 27. The launch is the first of 2012 for Roscosmos and the 46th Progress resupply vessel to be sent to ISS.

The ship, whose launch was described as “flawless” by a NASA spokesperson, carries food, oxygen, air, water, spare parts, and experimental equipment. The last Progress cargo ship undocked from ISS on January 23 with its load of trash and burned up in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean a day later, but not before releasing

The prior Progress cargo ship photographed leaving ISS before it was destroyed in the atmosphere (Credits: NASA).

a Russian microsatellite called Chibis-M. Chibis-M will orbit slightly above ISS and study Earth’s ionosphere. Its findings could help scientists understand and predict space weather phenomena.

The next launch to ISS, now that SpaceX’s Dragon COTS flight has been delayed, will be the launch of three new Expedition 31 crewmembers. On March 16, Commander Dan Burbank along with cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin will head back to Earth, ending Expedition 30. On March 30,  NASA astronauts Joseph Acaba and cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin will launch to ISS aboard a Soyuz capsule.

Below is a video of the Progress launch:

 

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Merryl Azriel

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Having wandered into professional writing and editing after a decade in engineering, science, and management, Merryl now enjoys reintegrating the dichotomy by bringing space technology and policy within reach of an interested public. After three years as Space Safety Magazine’s Managing Editor, Merryl semi-retired to Visiting Contributor and manager of the campaign to bring the International Space Station collaboration to the attention of the Nobel Peace Prize committee. She keeps her pencil sharp as Proposal Manager for U.S. government contractor CSRA.

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