Progress spacecraft departs ISS, another set to launch soon
A photo of a previous Progress spacecraft reentering Earth’s atmosphere. Credit: NASA
Russia’s autonomous Progress MS-19 cargo resupply spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station to make way for a new freighter, set to arrive later this week.
Progress MS-19 undocked at 6:46 p.m. EDT (22:46 UTC) Oct. 23, 2022, after spending more than eight months parked at the space-facing port of the Poisk module. According to NASA, the cargo ship performed a deorbit burn several hours after undocking to put the vehicle on a destructive reentry path into Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
The spacecraft’s departure frees up the docking port that Progress MS-21 is expected to utilize.
Progress MS-21 is slated to launch at 8:20 p.m. EDT Oct. 25 (00:20 UTC Oct. 26) atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It’ll dock with the space station two days later, docking at about 10:49 p.m. EDT Oct. 27 (02:49 UTC Oct. 28).
Like previous Progress cargo ships, it’ll bring with it a fresh supply of cargo, fuel, oxygen and water for the seven-person Expedition 68 crew aboard the ISS. It’ll remain aboard for at least six months, during which time it’ll be unloaded of its contents before being reloaded with trash and unneeded equipment.
At the end of its mission, it’ll be commanded to undock before performing a destructive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
Video courtesy of SciNews
Derek Richardson
Derek Richardson has a degree in mass media, with an emphasis in contemporary journalism, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. While at Washburn, he was the managing editor of the student run newspaper, the Washburn Review. He also has a website about human spaceflight called Orbital Velocity.
