Posted: Fri, Jul 2, 2010, 7:47 PM ET (2347 GMT)
A planned docking Friday of a Progress cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station was aborted because of a telemetry problem. The Progress M-06M spacecraft (designated Progress 38 by NASA) was scheduled to dock with the aft port of the station's Zvezda module a 12:58 pm EDT (1658 GMT) Friday. However, about 25 minutes before the scheduled docking telemetry between the station and the Kurs automated docking system on the Progress was cut off. The docking was aborted, and the Progress passed about 3 kilometers from the station. NASA officials said that the station was not at risk of a collision with the Progress at any time. The cause of the telemetry failure is not known. Russian engineers are planning a series of thruster burns by the Progress that would bring the spacecraft in position to try another docking attempt at 12:17 pm EDT (1617 GMT) Sunday.
