A new Russian Progress cargo ship has been launched into orbit on February 14 to deliver cargo to the 7 crew members on the International Space Station (ISS).
Key Points
- Progress MS-16 cargo ship has been launched into orbit by Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency.
- The cargo ship is also called Progress 77.
- The MS-16 cargo ship has been launched on a Soyuz rocket from Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
- It will arrive at the station on February 16.
- MS-16 is carrying around 2,460 kg (5,424 lbs) of cargo and supplies for the crew on ISS.
- The supplies include 1,400 kg (3,086 lbs.) of research and crew supplies, along with a supply of fresh water, nitrogen gas, and propellant for the station’s Zvezda service module propulsion system.
- The Soyuz is a 152-foot-tall 3-stage launch vehicle. It was expected to head on a northeasterly trajectory after launch, jettisoning its four strap-on boosters around 2 minutes after liftoff.
- The second stage of the rocket is powered by one RD-108A engine designed to continue firing for around 3 more minutes before handing the reins over to the rocket’s third stage an RD-0110 engine.
- Once the rocket reached a certain height, the fairings fell away to expose the Progress MS-16 spacecraft, which separated from the booster’s upper stage 9 minutes into the flight to make its way to the space station.
- After separation, the MS-16 spacecraft should unfurl its navigation antennas and solar arrays.
- After this, it will then align itself with the space station and prepare for docking with the Russian-built Pirs module.
- The Pirs module is a docking port on the Zvezda service module.
- Pirs is scheduled to be removed when the Progress 77 spacecraft ends its mission in July.
In its place, Roscosmos will bring up a long-awaited new addition: the Nauka laboratory. It will be the largest inclusion to the Russian segment of the space station after the Zvezda module was installed in the year 2000.
