Moscow, July 3 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russian cargo spaceship Progress M-06M which failed to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) Friday is ready for yet another attempt Sunday.
The orbit of the spaceship will be adjusted twice to ensure a successful docking, a source at the Mission Control Center said.
Friday’s docking for the Progress M-06M, which blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Wednesday, has been aborted due to a loss of telemetry.
Flight controllers reported the re-supply craft flew past the ISS. The spacecraft was about 2 km from the station when the system received a signal to stop approaching the ISS.
The source said the Progress M-06M had been transferred into the rotation mode that makes the active operation impossible. This mode helps charge the spacecraft’s battery since the Progress entered the shadow zone.
Vitaly Davydov, a deputy chief of the Russian Federal Space Agency, earlier said that the orbit currently occupied by Progress spacecraft did not allow controlling the spacecraft’s flight.
The new docking attempt will be again carried out in the automated mode, he added.
The space freighter launched on a Soyuz-U carrier rocket carries fuel, oxygen, scientific equipment and video and photo equipment to the ISS, as well as food, water and personal items for the 6-men crew of the orbital station.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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