A few hours ago, the Progress MS-26 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station in the mission also referred to as Progress 87 or 87P. The Russian cargo spacecraft, which blasted off last Thursday, February 14, carries food, water, scientific experiments, fuel, and various hardware.
The Progress MS-26 cargo spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Russian Zvezda module. Today, the crew will probably proceed with the hatch opening and the procedures to make it an appendage to the Station. The Progress MS-26’s primary mission is accomplished. In fact, it can’t return to Earth, so it will be filled with pieces of hardware that are faulty or have become unusable for some reason and assorted garbage and will disintegrate coming back to the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Progress MS-26 space freighter is scheduled to remain docked with the International Space Station for about six months. The date for its departure will be set later this year by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Among the scientific experiments carried by the Progress MS-26 space cargo ship is Perspective-KM, which aims to test a space-transformable structure made of a polymer composite material. A spacewalk will be required to install it outside the Russian Poisk module, where it will be tested.
The installation and use of the new scientific instruments and experiments intertwines with the rotation of the International Space Station crew, as Russian cosmonauts await the arrival of new Russian colleagues including Alexander Grebenkin. He will replace his countryman Konstantin Borisov from the Crew-7 mission, whose return to Earth will take place no earlier than March 8. SpaceX’s Crew-8 mission launch is scheduled for March 1. The launch of the Russian Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft is scheduled for March 21.
Despite international tensions, the collaboration between the USA and Russia continues with Russian cosmonauts flying on the American Crew Dragon spacecraft and American astronauts flying on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. In this situation, we have to appreciate any positive fact.
