Progress 66 Spaceship Reached the International Space Station

The Russian Progress 66 spaceship which was launched on February 22 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan has reached the International Space Station on February 24. The unscrewed craft set off from Earth to transport supplies for the astronauts located on the ISS. This represented the first cargo delivery of Roscosmos since the incident which occurred on Dec 1st, 2016 and affected Progress 65 cargo.

Roscomos represents NASA’s Russian counterpart, and they are both very similar in many respects. The Progress 66 spaceship was launched to send a three-ton cargo supply to the International Space Station. The ship docked with the Russian docking module called Pirs at 3.30 AM ET or 8:30 AM GMT. This cargo spacecraft is the second to reach the ISS after Dragon capsule provided about 5.500 lbs of cargo back on February 23.

By using a Soyuz rocket, the cargo ship managed to lift into the air on February 22, at 12.58 AM ET. Along with SpaceX, the Progress 66 spaceship forms a fleet of robot-powered crafts developed to deliver supplies to the ISS. SpaceX spacecraft docked with the ISS on February 22 after a failed attempt. The spaceship has aborted its first docking effort due to improper navigational update.

The Russian cargo docked to the orbiting space station after only one day the Dragon cargo arrived there. The cargo ship delivered fuel, food and other supplies which weighed about three tons. The stocks are bound to help the crew members of Expedition 50. The spacecraft will remain docked for approximately four months.

In June, the spaceship will be departing the International Space Station, descending into Earth’s atmosphere. Back in December, the previous mission of Roscosmos failed when Progress 65 ship crashed a few minutes after it was launched. The devastating crash caused terror among people living in southern Siberia when witnessing the crash of the burning craft.

After many investigations and analyses, researchers revealed that one of the spaceship’s engine had a glitch and burst into flames, causing the crash of the Russian Progress 65 craft. Nevertheless, the launch of the Progress 66 spaceship did not face any technical glitches, enabling a smooth take off. The Russian spacecraft reached the International Space Station as researchers have scheduled the docking event.

Image courtesy of: wikipedia