[ad_1]
-
On this photo distributed by the press service of the Roscosmos Space Agency on Friday, November 16, 2018, the Russian cargo ship Souz FG with the Progress MS-10 takes off from the launch pad of the main Russian space facility in Baikonour, at the Kazakhstan. A Russian rocket Soyuz put a cargo ship on the way to the International Space Station, paving the way for the next crewed mission. (Photo of the press service of the Roscosmos Space Agency via AP) lessOn this photo distributed by the Press Service of the Roscosmos Space Agency on Friday, November 16, 2018, the Russian cargo ship Souz FG with the Progress MS-10 takes off from the launching ramp of the main facility … more
Photo: AP
Photo: AP
MOSCOW (AP) – A Russian Soyuz rocket sent a freighter to the International Space Station Friday, a successful launch that allowed the next crew to reach the outpost.
The launch of the Russian MS-10 Progress Replenishment Ship from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan marked the fourth successful launch of a Soyuz since the launch of a crew member launch last month.
A Soyuz-FG rocket carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Alexei Ovchinin of Roscosmos failed two minutes after the start of his flight on October 11, activating an automatic rescue system allowing their capsule to land safely. A Russian investigation attributed this failure to a damaged sensor during the final assembly of the rocket.
The accident is the first launch of a crew for the Russian space program that has failed since 1983, when two Soviet cosmonauts were dropped following an explosion on the launch pad and also landed in all security. The Russian spacecraft Soyuz is currently the only vehicle that can transport crews to the space station.
Since the October accident, two Soyuz rockets have been successfully launched from Plesetsk, in northwestern Russia, and a third, from French Guiana, carrying satellites into orbit. They were of a different subtype than the rocket that failed in October, but the one that took off on Friday was the same version.
The Progress spacecraft is due to dock on Sunday at the space station, providing nearly three tons of food, fuel, water and other supplies to the crew – Serena Aunon, Chancellor of NASA, the Russian Sergei Prokopyev and the German Alexander Gerst.
As part of a separate supply mission, Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket with cargo Cygnus is expected to take off on Saturday and land at the station on Monday.
The current crew must return to Earth next month after the arrival of their replacements. American astronaut Anne McClain, Canada's David Saint-Jacques and Russia's Oleg Kononenko are scheduled to arrive on December 3rd.
Speaking Thursday at the Star City Space Training Center, outside of Moscow, McClain expressed confidence in the Soyuz despite the aborted launch of October.
"We trust our rocket, we are ready to fly," she said. "I think what we learned from inside in October is the safety of this rocket.Many people have described it as an accident or an incident. or maybe want to use it as an example of non-security.But for us it's exactly the because our friends went home, the systems worked and they worked exactly as they were designed. "
Source link
