Progress MS-06 docks with ISS
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A file photo of Progress MS-02 on final approach to the Zvezda service module in April 2016. The recently launched Progress MS-06 spacecraft docked at the aft port of Zvezda June 16, 2017. Photo Credit: NASA
Pulling into port at 7:37 a.m. EDT (11:37 GMT) June 16, 2017, the autonomous Russian Progress MS-06 cargo spacecraft glided in for a docking at the aft port of the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module.
The two vehicles were traveling some 400 kilometers over the Philippine Sea at the time of docking.
Progress MS-06 is carrying about 1,400 kilograms of pressurized cargo as well as 880 kilograms of fuel for station propulsion, 420 kilograms of water, and 47 kilograms of oxygen for the crew.
“Thank you very much for a reliable vehicle,” Expedition 52 Commander Fyodor Yurchikin radioed down to Mission Control in Moscow.
After the initial “soft dock,” the probe at the front of Progress retracted to bring the two vehicles firmly together to allow for docking hooks to close. This created a firm attachment between the cargo freighter and the space station.
The three-person Expedition 52 crew will open the hatch between the station and cargo ship later in the day, after several hours of leak checks are performed.
Progress MS-06 lifted off two days ago from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It was launched atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket.
After a two-day trek, the spacecraft rendezvoused with the outpost to begin its six-month mission attached to the 400-metric-ton complex. It will remain at its current location until early December. Then it will undock with several tons of unneeded equipment and trash and, several hours later, de-orbit and burn up in the atmosphere over the south Pacific Ocean.
NOTE: While this article was written by Derek Richardson, it was originally published at SpaceFlight Insider. Feel free to head over there to read all the stuff they write about!
