An unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft, Progress 80, finally arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) and successfully delivered supplies for the Expedition 66 crew.
Russian Spacecraft Progress 80 Delivers Supply to ISS
According to a report by Space.com, the spacecraft, referred to as Progress 80, carried roughly three tons of supplies and equipment to the ISS early Thursday morning.
Officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) revealed during a webcast of Progress 80's arrival that the spacecraft was loaded with the following cargo:
- 5,667 pounds (2,570 kilograms) of goods
- 948 pounds (430 kilograms) of propellant
- 89 pounds (40 kilograms) of nitrogen
- 926 pounds (420 kilograms) of water
- 3,704 pounds (1,680 kilograms) of replacement parts
- Other supplies
Progress 80 took off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome at 11:25 p.m. Feb. 14 (9:25 a.m. on Feb. 15 Baikonur time) aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. It then circled the globe 34 times before arriving at the space station 270 miles (434 kilometers) over the South Pacific.
After docking in the Poisk module of the station at exacly 2:03 a.m. EST (0703 GMT), the Roscosmos-owned cargo spacecraft finally completed its two-day orbital chase.
The uncrewed Russian Progress 80 spacecraft automatically docked to the station’s Poisk docking compartment at 2:03am ET, delivering nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the orbiting lab. https://t.co/xGcjkSH4Bx pic.twitter.com/K6mJSRNb3A
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) February 17, 2022
Aside from the Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft and SpaceX's Dragon capsule, Progress 80 is also one of those robotic resupply spacecraft that replenishes astronauts need including food, water, fuel, and research equipment to the orbiting lab.
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Roscosmos Plans To Reduce Progress Delivery Time
Roscosmos has stated in another Space.com report that Progress deliveries will be reduced to a single orbit to the orbiting laboratory. A single-orbit journey takes around two hours.
If early tests go well, the route should be operational by 2023.
The Russian space agency also noted that several Progress spacecraft haved reached the space station in under two orbits, or three hours, starting in 2018.
However, it is worth noting that several factors could influence the time of launches and space station arrivals. These include the operations of other spacecraft attached to the space station.
Following the work of previous Progress versions, this cargo spacecraft is the primary vehicle through which Russia delivers supplies to its astronauts on the International Space Station.
Another Cargo Spacecraft Will Launch This Week
NASA reported that Northrop Grumman plans to launch its Cygnus Spacecraft at 12:40 p.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 19.
The said spacecraft aims to launch the company's 17th resupply mission to the International Space Station, which will took off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility located on Wallops Island, Virginia.
The Cygnus spacecraft contains a service module and a pressurized cargo module. Similar to the Progress 80, this spacecraft also delivers crew supplies, replacement parts, and research experiments to the International Space Station.
The Cygnus spacecraft, named late NASA astronaut S.S. Piers Sellers is expected to arrive at the orbiting lab on Monday, Feb. 21. Sellers is known to have spent roughly 35 days across three flights working to build the space station,
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