December 21 - Progress M-55 launch

[Chris Bergin]

Another Pole! Welcome to the site. Anik is very likely to know where to look, so I'll leave that for him to reply.

[anik]

Velomir - 21/12/2005  11:01 PM

Do you know where I can find the exact M-55 Cargo manifest?

http://www.mcc.rsa.ru/progres_m55.htm (in Russian, unfortunately... )

[lmike]

Roskosmos used to make nice brochures for some Soyuz-TMA and Progress-M, in both English and Russian, like this, for example: http://www.federalspace.ru/video/m_51_www.pdf (1.66Mb)  with some amazing details on the craft and the cargo.  Too bad they seem to have stopped publishing them.

[anik]

Yesterday's Progress M-55 launch...

[DaveS]

NASA TV coverage of Progress M-55 docking has begun! Less than an hour before docking!

[DaveS]

Capture and docking was officialy at 1:46 pm CST, 2:46 pm EST. Hooks and latches on the Progress is retracting right now.

[SMS]

docking time was 19:46:18 UTC  
the linkup with the station's Pirs docking compartment occurred eight minutes ahead of schedule,
in automatic mode !

[Launch Fan]

Nice work Progress

[Jamie Young]

Well done Russia!

[mcnaut]

Now that there are two Progress vehicles at the station, what happens when the first one leaves?

1) Can the second Progress undock and be moved the aft of Zvezda? Or is it a one-shot rendezvous vehicle?

2) If it can't be moved, does that leave ISS without reboost capability?

3) Is the PIRS module equiped to 'plumb' fuel and oxygen into Zvezda's tanks?

[lmike]

1. Yes, using the TORU, the manual control system aboard the ISS  (the old unfortunate collision with Mir was due to this style of re-docking of Progress)
2. No, Zvezda has its own set of re-boost thrusters even with higher ISP than the Progress's, but they tend to conserve this capability for emergencies (there also may be some concerns with the thrusters impinging on the solar arrays)
3. Yes, they can refuel Zvezda via Pirs, as well as via Zarya (FGB)

[anik]

mcnaut - 24/12/2005  2:02 PM

1) Can the second Progress undock and be moved the aft of Zvezda?

Yes, Progress M-55 can... But it will not be, because Progress M-54 will undock from Zvezda on 3 March 2006 and Soyuz TMA-8 will dock to Zvezda on 24 March 2006...

mcnaut - 24/12/2005  2:02 PM

2) If it can't be moved, does that leave ISS without reboost capability?

No!... Progress M-55 and Zvezda may raise ISS orbit also... Progress M-55 will raise ISS orbit on 10 February 2006, Progress M-54 - on 22 February 2006 and Zvezda - on 10 March 2006...

mcnaut - 24/12/2005  2:02 PM

3) Is the PIRS module equiped to 'plumb' fuel and oxygen into Zvezda's tanks?

Yes, of course!... Into Zarya's tanks too (not only into Zvezda's tanks) and only fuel (not oxygen)...