EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 2 pm EDT (1800 GMT) after docking.
Completing a quick three-hour search for the International Space Station, a Russian Progress supply ship overcame a last-minute misalignment and autonomously joined the research complex in orbit Thursday with nearly three tons of fuel, food and supplies.
The Soyuz-2.1a rocket took off from platform 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 10:26:21 am EDT (1426: 21 GMT; 7:26 pm Baikonur time) with the cargo ship Progress MS-15.
The mission’s launch was scheduled less than a minute before the space station flew directly over the launch base in the remote Kazakh steppe, allowing supply carrier Progress to chase the research complex into orbit in just over three hours. .
The Soyuz launcher with kerosene headed northeast from Baikonur and fired his four first-stage reinforcements two minutes after takeoff. Subsequently, the Soyuz launched an aerodynamic deck covering the Progress supply ship, threw its center stage overboard, and started a third-stage engine to deliver the cargo freighter into orbit.
A live video feed from a camera aboard the Progress spacecraft showed the Soyuz third stage turning off its engine and setting aside nearly nine minutes on the mission. The Progress MS-15 freighter deployed its solar antenna wings and power-generating navigation antennas.
A Russian Soyuz-2.1a rocket takes off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with the cargo ship Progress MS-15, which transports food, fuel and supplies on a fast flight to the International Space Station. https://t.co/TcC8qI1qXS pic.twitter.com/lVR0RRYwuW
– Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) July 23, 2020
Two major rocket burns using the Progress spacecraft’s thrusters occurred at 11:04 a.m., 11:46 a.m., and 12:32 p.m. EDT (1504, 1546, and 1632 GMT) to begin raising its orbit to match the altitude of the International Space Station. Those maneuvers set the stage for the supply ship’s approach to the station and a flyby maneuver to align with the Pirs module in the Russian segment of the research laboratory.
Russian cosmonauts monitoring the supply ship’s final approach noticed that the Progress spacecraft was misaligning with the docking target on the Pirs module, adding some tension to the final moments of the docking sequence.
Cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin asked if he should take manual control of the Progress spacecraft through a command panel inside the space station, which serves as a backup to the cargo ship’s automated Kurs encounter radar system.
“Are we going to switch to manual control, Moscow?” Cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin radioed control of the Russian mission near Moscow.
“Wait, we still don’t have a chance,” answered mission control.
“Well, we are waiting,” said Ivanishin.
“Everything is nominal, Anatoly,” mission control said later. “Do not do anything”.
Moments later, Progress contacted the Pirs docking port at 1:45 pm EDT (1747 GMT), and ground crews confirmed a good connection between the cargo ship and the space station.
Russia’s Progress MS-15 supply ship docked with the International Space Station at 1:45 pm EDT (1745 GMT), overcoming a last-minute misalignment to conclude a successful 3-hour, 19-minute journey from a launch pad in Kazakhstan. https://t.co/m5O7wBmsE6 pic.twitter.com/Ue2CNRONxR
– Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) July 23, 2020
The docking occurred 3 hours, 19 minutes after the mission took off from Kazakhstan, delivering about 2.8 tons (2.6 metric tons) of fuel, food, supplies and other equipment to the space station and its five-person crew.
Russian ground crews loaded 3,351 pounds (1,520 kilograms) of dry cargo in the pressurized compartment of the cargo ship, according to Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. Roscosmos says there is around 1,322 pounds (600 kilograms) of propeller aboard the Progress MS-15 spacecraft to transfer to the space station’s tanks, along with 926 pounds (420 kilograms) of water and 101 pounds (46 kilograms) ) of compressed gas to replenish the space station breathing air.
The Progress MS-13 supply vessel, which docked with the space station on December 9, departed from the Pirs docking port on July 8 to clear the way for the arrival of the new cargo freighter. After docking on Thursday, the Progress MS-15 spacecraft will remain connected to the space station until December, when it will separate and burn in Earth’s atmosphere.
Ivanishin and Russian flight engineer Ivan Vagner are joined on the International Space Station by Expedition 63 commander Chris Cassidy and NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.
Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner were launched in April aboard a Russian Soyuz crew capsule. They are scheduled to return to Earth in October.
Behnken and Hurley launched on May 30 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the first flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft with astronauts. They arrived at the station on May 31, and are preparing to undock as soon as August 1, followed by re-entry and splashing off the Florida coast on August 2.
Send an email to the author.
Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @ StephenClark1.
