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In a midnight launch, the Russian Space Agency sent thousands of books of supplies to the three astronauts on the International Space Station. It was the first of two cargo missions to the station this week.
The Progress vehicle was launched as planned on board a Soyuz rocket at 12:14 pm on November 17, local time (1:14 pm EST, Nov. 16 at 18:14 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
"A perfect flight of 8 minutes and 45 seconds on a sunny day in Baikonur," said NASA spokesman Gary Jordan during the show. "Everything was down, three tons of cargo inside."
Russia launched the Progress 71 cargo mission on November 16, 2018 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Credit: NASA TV
The capsule will sail nearly 50 hours before being moored to the Russian segment of the space station on November 18 at 14:30. EST (1930 GMT). You can watch this live broadcast on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, or on the agency's website, starting at 1:45 pm. EST (18:45 GMT).
The supplies will be hosted by the three astronauts currently living and working aboard the in-orbit lab: NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst and the cosmonaut Russian Sergey Prokopyev.
The Progress vehicle contains 2.8 tons of supplies. About half the weight of the shipment is dedicated to freight, including food and spare parts; the rest of the vehicle is filled with fuel, oxygen, air and water, according to NASA. The rocket that propelled today's launch is a Soyuz-FG, the same type of vehicle that failed during a crewed launch on October 11, sending two astronauts freefalling on Earth to survive in good condition. Today's flawless launch is a promising sign before the next crew launch scheduled for December 3rd.
But today's launch is not alone: shortly after the arrival of the Progress vehicle, the crew of the space station will have more luggage to undo. Northrop Grumman will launch another cargo into a Cygnus capsule, propelled by an Antares rocket, early Saturday morning (17 November).
Takeoff is scheduled at 4:01 am EST (0901 GMT), after two 24 hour delays due to the weather conditions of NASA's installation in Wallops Island, Virginia. This capsule will be moored at 19:20 EST (1020 GMT) on 19 November, and the launch and capture will be broadcast by NASA.
Email Meghan Bartels at [email protected] or follow her. @meghanbartels. follow us @Spacedotcom and Facebook. Original article on Space.com.
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