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Saturday, July 26, 2014

Robotic Russian CArgo Ship launched for a trip to International Space Station

An unmanned Russian spacecraft filled with three tons of cargo for the six crew members living on the International Space Station launched on 23rd July, 2014.  

The unmanned Progress 56 spacecraft launched atop a Russian built Soyuz rocket from Baikanur Cosmodrome in Kazakhistan at 5:44 PM EDT ( 21:44 GMT) and 3:44 local time on Thursday, 23rd Jult, 2014.  

The Progress 56 carrying around 2,587 Kilograms of food and other supplies for the Expedition 40 crew who are currently aboard ISS.  The spacedcraft is also delivering 800 Kg of Propellant,  26 Kg of air, 22 Kg of Oxygen, 420 Kg of Water and 1,320 Kg of supplies, spare parts and experimental hardware according to NASA.

The Progress ships normally takes around 2 days to reach ISS but the Russian craft launched on 24th July, 2014 has been accelerated and reached in 6 hours to the Science Laboratory.

The International Space Station was flying about 260 miles above north east of Kazakhistan at the time of launch and passed directly over4 the launch site three minutes later.  After a series of thruster firings by progress have adjusted the orbit to put the Russian space freighter on track for a rendezvous with the ISS and an automatic docking to the earth facing port of Piris docking compartment.  Progress 56 is slated to spend about three months docked to the complex before undocking to make way for ISS Progress 57.


The ISS Progress 55 cargo craft, which undocked from Pirs on Monday, is now a safe distance from the complex for a series of engineering tests prior to being sent to a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean on July 31.

The station's crew began the workday at 6 a.m. Wednesday, four hours later than the usual 2 a.m. reveille to accommodate the late-night arrival of Progress.
Commander Steve Swanson and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst participated in more Ocular Health exams as flight surgeons track the vision health of the astronauts aboard the station.

NASA recently identified that some astronauts experience changes in their vision, which might be related to effects of microgravity on the cardiovascular system. Researchers are working to understand and prevent these changes in astronauts. With guidance from the Ocular Health team on the ground, Gerst performed an ultrasound scan of Swanson's eyes.

Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman then pitched in to help out with Wednesday's exams and conducted an ultrasound scan of Gerst's eyes. Swanson and Gerst later measured each other's blood pressure and collected electrocardiogram data for Ocular Health.
Swanson also temporarily removed the Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus from the Combustion Integrated Rack's combustion chamber to replace some igniter tips.

A video of the launch is shown below.

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