Space Stations

The Progress MS-24 cargo spacecraft approaching the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A few hours ago, the Progress MS-24 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station in the mission also referred to as Progress 85 or 85P. The Russian cargo spacecraft, which blasted off last Wednesday, August 24, Russian time, carries food, water, scientific experiments, fuel, and various hardware. Yesterday, the Station performed a maneuver using the Zvezda module’s engines to move from away the trajectory of a space debris but that had no consequences on the arrival of the Progress MS-24.

The Cygnus S.S. Laurel Clark cargo captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm (Image NASA TV)

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Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, launched last Wednesday, August 2, has just reached the International Space Station and was captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Astronaut Woody Hoburg, assisted by his colleague Frank Rubio, will soon begin the slow maneuver to move the Cygnus until it docks with the Station’s Unity module after about two hours.

The Dragon 2 cargo spacecraft docked with the International Space Station in its CRS-28 mission (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Dragon 2 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Harmony module completing the first part of its CRS-28 mission. Astronaut Woody Hoburg monitored the operation assisted by his fellow astronaut Frank Rubio, but the cargo spacecraft, which blasted off when it was Monday morning in the USA, completed the maneuvers automatically without any problem.

The Shenzhou 16 mission starting with the launch atop a Long March-2F rocket (Photo courtesy Xinhua/Li Gang)

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A confirmation has arrived that three Chinese taikonauts from the Shenzhou 16 mission reached the Chinese space station Tiangong with an automated docking maneuver. They blasted off about seven hours earlier on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. They form the fifth crew of the Chinese space station and will remain there for about six months, the standard duration for a mission.

The Progress MS-23 cargo spacecraft approaching the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A few hours ago, the Progress MS-23 spacecraft blasted off atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After about nine minutes it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and was placed on its ultra-fast track in its resupply mission to the International Space Station also called Progress 84 or 84P. After almost 3.5 hours it reached the International Space Station docking with its Poisk module. The ultra-fast track requires very precise maneuvering and a favorable position of the Station. For this reason, it wasn’t used in the previous two Russian resupply missions.