Freighter docks with space station despite antenna glitch

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Moscow, April 27 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The Progress M-19M space freighter docked with the International Space Station (ISS) despite having failed to deploy one of its navigation antennas, Mission Control said.

It docked with the ISS Zvezda module in automatic mode.

The faulty antenna will not be dismantled by cosmonauts in space because there are several pyrobolts (explosive bolts) inside, Russia's Federal Space Agency director Vladimir Popovkin said.

The antenna has served its purpose and is no longer needed, he added.

The freighter was launched Wednesday from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.

Russia's Federal Space Agency reported a failure to deploy an antenna of the Kurs navigation system responsible for guiding the spacecraft to the docking module on the ISS shortly after the freighter reached the desired orbit. Repeated attempts to deploy the antenna also failed.

The Progress has delivered over 2.5 tonnes of cargo to the ISS, including supplies for the crew's work and fuel for the space station, as well as food, water and oxygen for the crew, along with parcels from their families.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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Freighter docks with space station despite antenna glitch

Russia's Damaged Progress Cargo Resupply Ship Docks With Space Station

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April 26, 2013

Image Caption: An earlier Progress cargo ship prior to docking with the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Despite all odds, Russias Progress 51 cargo spacecraft docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday at 8:25 a.m. EDT. A hard mate was established when docking hooks were deployed nine minutes later at 8:34 a.m.

Progress launched towards the orbiting space lab on Wednesday carrying 2.5 tons of cargo, including 1,764 pounds of propellant, 48 pounds of oxygen, 57 pounds of air, 926 pounds of water and 3,483 pounds of spare parts. However, after launch, the spacecrafts navigation antenna failed to properly deploy, casting doubt on whether Progress would even be able to make it to the Station.

Rendezvous and docking procedures with ISS are automated, but once the spacecraft is within 492 feet of the Station, Russias Mission Control Center just outside of Moscow and the Station crew monitor the approach and docking closely. Progress typically uses an automated, radar-based system called Kurs to dock with the station, but the station crew can also use the TORU system, which is a backup remote control docking system in the Stations Zvezda Service Module.

Astronauts aboard the space station had to use a soft docking to capture the cargo ship and see whether the undeployed antenna would interfere with hard docking. NASA confirmed the cargo craft completed a hard mate when the docking hooks were deployed this morning.

Flight Engineers Pavel Vinogradov and Roman Romanenko monitored the docking, standing by at the Russian (TORU) telerobotically operated rendezvous system in case manual control was needed to bring Progress in. Russian Mission Control said in the end, the cosmonauts did not have to provide manual docking.

After docking, Crew members then conducted leak checks at the docking interface and opened the hatch to the cargo craft. The Expedition 35 team will soon begin the long process of inventorying and unloading its 3.1 tons of food, fuel and equipment. Once ISS crew members finally unload Progress 51, they will be reloading it with trash and station discards. Once the ship is filled with discarded waste, it will make a scheduled deployment and return to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere upon reentry.

The Russian spacecraft is expected to undock from the ISS on June 11 to make way for the ESAs Albert Einstein Automated Transfer Vehicle 4 on June 15.

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Russia's Damaged Progress Cargo Resupply Ship Docks With Space Station

An Inside Look at the Water/Urine Recycling System on the Space Station

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by Nancy Atkinson on April 26, 2013

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International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield lifts the lid on the Water Recovery System, the first liquid recycling system to be flown in space that cleans almost all the water (greywater, urine, sweat) produced by crew members so that it can be used again. As previous space station resident Don Pettit has said, Yesterdays coffee becomes todays coffee.

Previously, Russias space station Mir recycled cosmonauts sweat, but this system on the ISS can recycle about 93 percent of the liquids it receives. The ISSs water recycler uses a distiller that looks like a keg. On Earth, distilling is a simple process of boiling water and cooling the steam back into pure water. But without gravity, the contaminants in water never separate from the steam no matter how much heat is used. So, the keg-sized distiller spins to produce an artificial gravity field while boiling the water. The contaminants in the urine or greywater press against the sides of the drum while the steam gathers in the middle and is pumped to a filter.

NASAs Water Recovery System. Credit: NASA

Tagged as: the international space station, urine recycling, water recycling

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An Inside Look at the Water/Urine Recycling System on the Space Station

Russian cargo spacecraft docks with space station despite glitch

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NASA TV

A Russian Progress 51 robotic spacecraft successfully docked to the International Space Station on Friday morning.

By Miriam Kramer Space.com

An unmanned cargo-carrying spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station Friday morning, despite a glitch in the capsule's navigation system.

After its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the RussianProgress 51 spacecraftfailed to deploy one of the two antennas used for the Kurs automated docking system. Russian ground controllers were able to reposition the antenna, allowing the automated docking to go ahead as planned.

Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Roman Romanenko kept an eye on Progress as it moved into position.

"We have contact," one of the cosmonauts said after docking, "We have capture."

Although the cosmonauts were prepared to take over docking procedures, the automated system worked and the spacecraft fully docked to the station at 8:34 a.m. EDT while flying 251 miles (404 kilometers) over the border between China and Kazakhstan.

NASA TV

The Russian Progress 51 nears the International Space Station after a glitch involving a navigational antenna.

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Russian cargo spacecraft docks with space station despite glitch

Russian Cargo Spacecraft Successfully Docks to Space Station

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An unmanned cargo-carrying spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station Friday morning (April 26), despite a glitch in the capsule's navigation system.

After its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the RussianProgress 51 spacecraft failed to deploy one of the two antennas used for the Kurs automated docking system. Russian ground controllers were able to reposition the antenna, allowing the automated docking to go ahead as planned.

Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Roman Romanenko kept an eye on Progress as it moved into position.

"We have contact," one of the cosmonauts said after docking, "We have capture."

Although the cosmonauts were prepared to take over docking procedures, the automated system worked and the spacecraft fully docked to the station at 8:34 a.m. EDT (1234 GMT) while flying 251 miles (404 kilometers) over the border between China and Kazakhstan.

The approach to the space station was slower than usual because controllers on the ground and astronauts on the International Space Station were carefully monitoring Progress's position, NASA officials said.

At first the Progress was "soft-docked" and not secured in place with hooks in latches, giving the station crew and flight controllers a chance to make sure its stuck antenna posed no risk to the station's exterior. When they saw it was safe, the Progress was slowly drawn into the port and secured.

Progress delivered 1,764 pounds (800 kg) of propellant, 57 pounds (26 kg) of air, 48 pounds (21 kg) of oxygen, 926 pounds (420 kg) of water and 3,348 pounds (1519 kg) of experiment hardware, spare parts and other supplies to the residents of the space station, NASA officials said.

Vinogradov and Romanenko are flight engineers on the station's Expedition 25 crew, along with NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. The crew is led by commanderChris Hadfieldof the Canadian Space Agency.

Romanenko, Marshburn and Hadfield are expected to leave the space station in May after six months onboard. Once they leave, Vinogradov will take over for Hadfield as the commander of the Expedition 36 mission.

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Russian Cargo Spacecraft Successfully Docks to Space Station