spacetoday.net: Progress launches and docks with ISS

Posted: Thu, Aug 2, 2012, 10:55 AM ET (1455 GMT)
Progress M-16M approaches ISS (NASA)

A Progress spacecraft docked with the International Space Station Wednesday night just hours after its launch from Kazakhstan, the first such "express" mission to the space station. The Progress M-16M spacecraft lifted off atop a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:35 pm EDT Wednesday (1935 GMT Wednesday, 1:35 am local time Thursday). While a normal transit to the ISS takes two days from launch, Russian controllers tested an expedited approach that allowed the Progress to arrive at the station within four orbits, docking with the station's Pirs module at 9:24 pm EDT Wednesday (0124 GMT Thursday). The Russian space agency hopes to use a similar express approach to the ISS for future crewed Soyuz spacecraft. The Progress spacecraft itself, also designated Progress 48 by NASA, is carrying about 2.9 tons of supplies and equipment for the station.