A few hours ago the Progress MS-3 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station inthe mission also referred to as Progress 64. The Russian space freighter, which blasted off last Sunday, carrying food, water, scientific experiments, propellant and various hardware.

The Progress MS-3 cargo spacecraft regularly docked with the Russian Pirs module of the International Space Station using the automatic system that allows Russian spacecraft a direct berthing. During the week the crew will proceed with the opening of the hatch and the procedures to make the Progress MS-3 an appendix of the Station. At that point, they can begin the unloading operations.

The mission of the Progress MS-3 spacecraft is substantially accomplished. In fact it can’t return to Earth so it will be so filled with hardware failed or otherwise become unusable and assorted junk and will disintegrate returning into the atmosphere. This mission epilogue will take place in about six months, tentatively in January 2017, but the exact date depends on various factors.

It’s a very busy moment on the International Space Station concerning supply arrivals. Generally cargo unloading operations start on the day after arrival and continue more or less for the week following the arrival. In this case, the routine changed because tomorrow the SpaceX Dragon freighter is arriving as well. It’s the first time that two space cargo ships arrive in such a short time.

During the 34 orbits performed by the Progress MS-3 spacecraft the test on the systems of the MS variant introduced at the end of 2015 continued. The new systems have already been applied to the manned Soyuz spacecraft as well but the Roscosmos space agency keeps on working on their setup with these tests. For this reason, the 2-day route is used instead of the 6-hour one.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos hasn’t provided information on the onboard systems tests. In particular, it remains unclear whether it had on board CubeSat-class nanosatellites to deploy into orbit during the journey or there was just a test run of the new mechanism. The Progress MS-3 cargo spacecraft accomplished its mission and this is the important thing.