Fresh supplies for Space Station
The Progress 23 cargo spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) later this afternoon. The unpiloted spaceship brings crew provisions, equipment, propellant and oxygen.
The Russian Progress, which was launched from Baikonur, in Kazakhstan, last Monday, is scheduled to automatically dock with the Station's Zvezda module at 16:28 CEST (14:28 UT). Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin will be on stand-by, ready to perform a manual docking should it be necessary.
The new arrival is the twenty-third Progress to visit the ISS - a new Progress vehicle visits the Station every four to five months. Its predecessor, Progress 22, still remains docked to the Station's Pirs docking compartment - providing extra temporary storage space. Once all items have been found a permanent storage place on board ISS, the Progress 22 will be loaded with the Station's unwanted waste before it is deorbited and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere. Progress 23 will eventually meet with the same fate.
NASA TV will carry live coverage of the Progress docking starting at 16:00 CEST (14:00 UT).
