An unstaffed Russian spacecraft is reported to have docked with the International Space Station after making the trip from Earth in record time. <\/p>\n
A new approach manoeuvre allowed the Progress M16-M vessel to reach the space station, 350 kilometres above the Earth, after fewer orbits, taking six hours instead of the usual two-plus days. <\/p>\n
The cargo ship took off on board a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying 2.6 tonnes of supplies, fuel, scientific equipment and gifts for the space station's crew. <\/p>\n
It docked successfully on Thursday after four orbits round the Earth, several reports in Russian media quoted mission control as saying. <\/p>\n
After further testing, the new approach could be used for crewed Soyuz capsules, cutting time and expense. <\/p>\n
'If you can get the crew to orbit in six hours and onboard the International Space Station, that could be a tremendous benefit over the two-plus days it takes today,' Dan Harman, NASA's space station manager of operations and integration, told reporters last week. <\/p>\n
The station has crew from Russia, the US and Japan. <\/p>\n
It is also hosting two other cargo vessels, Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle-3 and Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle-3, or Edoardo Amaldi. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Russian space craft docks in record time<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An unstaffed Russian spacecraft is reported to have docked with the International Space Station after making the trip from Earth in record time. A new approach manoeuvre allowed the Progress M16-M vessel to reach the space station, 350 kilometres above the Earth, after fewer orbits, taking six hours instead of the usual two-plus days. Continue reading