Russia's 41st Progress approaches the International Space Station. Photo Credit/NASA TV
Russia’s 41st Progress supply capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station late Saturday, the latest in a series of unmanned global cargo vessels headed for the six person orbiting science laboratory.
The Progress capsule linked to the station’s Pirs docking port at 9:39 p.m., EST, delivering three tons of equipment. The cargo included propellant, medical equipment, water, compressed air and a small student satellite that will be deployed by spacewalking cosmonauts during a Feb. 16 outing.
Two days earlier, Japan’s second HTV, christened Kounotori, made a successful station rendezvous with 5.3 tons of equipment, including research gear and external spare parts. Two of the station’s astronauts, Catherine Coleman of NASA and Paulo Nespoli of the European Space Agency, grabbed Kounotori using the station’s long Canadian robot arm and berthed the space freighter with the U. S. segment’s Harmony module.
Meanwhile, the European Space Agency’s second Automated Transfer Vehicle, the Johannes Kepler, awaits a Feb. 15 lift off from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The Johannes Kepler is scheduled to reach the space station on Feb. 23 with another eight tons of equipment.
The flurry of robotic supply missions from all corners of the globe is offering a preview of station operations as NASA’s shuttle era draws to a close after two and possibly three more flights this year.
Currently, it appears that NASA will join the unmanned supply trend when SpaceX initiates a commercial cargo service later this year with the launching of a Falcon 9/Dragon mission.