So far 2015 has featured a series of embarrassing (though never fatal) rocket malfunctions that have left the astronauts on the ISS wondering where their stock levels will next be topped up.
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NASA launch commentator Rob Navias gave the go ahead and said all the systems on the rocket were in excellent shape.
The three astronauts, Kjell Lindgren from NASA, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Japan’s Kimiya Yui had been hopeful for a May 26 blastoff but when the engineers noticed the Soyuz rocket problem, Russia delayed the launch of the astronauts.
An unmanned cargo ship carrying three tons of supplies failed to dock with the worldwide Space Station after it went into an uncontrollable spin after the launch.
The freighter is scheduled to arrive at the space station at about 3 a.m. EDT (0700 GMT) on Sunday (July 5). The duo explored the dynamic forces the station experiences caused by mission events such as vehicle dockings and spacewalks including internal activities like physical exercise. That one is already crucial, since it will be carrying water for the crew as well as food.
Astronauts on the worldwide Space Station will cross their fingers and toes that Friday’s resupply mission doesn’t suffer a similar fate to the last three attempts.
Typically, a Progress launch doesn’t get much attention; it’s a routine method for resupplying the ISS.
Do these supply-run failures mean astronauts are running out of food?
Well, apparently the space agencies have planned for that.
NASA says the station presently is in fine condition with satisfactory provide ranges till at the least October. An American, a Russian, and an Italian walk into a spaceship…
The two cosmonauts, Commander Gennady Padalka and One-Year crew member Mikhail Kornienko, were on the Russian side of the orbital lab conducting science and maintenance.
However, the trouble-free launch Friday was essential for the station program, which has exclusively relied on Russian spacecraft for ferrying crews after the grounding of the USA shuttle fleet.
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The successful launch on Friday has cleared the way for three new crewmembers to be flown to the station some time later this month.
