Docking of Cargo Ship Fails
Department:
The International Space Station
Teaser:
"A Russian cargo ship veered off course and missed the space station in its attempt to dock to deliver supplies to the orbiting lab Friday."
Source:
SPACE.com Download time: Jul 2 2010 3:36 PM ET
An unmanned Russian cargo ship veered out of control near the International Space Station on Friday, sailing clear past the orbiting lab instead of docking on autopilot, as engineers on Earth struggle to determine what went wrong.
The robotic cargo ship Progress 38 was slated to dock at the space station at 12:58 p.m. EDT (1658 GMT) but lost its navigational lock on the orbiting lab about 28 minutes before the rendezvous.
"The Progress literally flew past the station, but at a safe distance from the outpost," NASA commentator Rob Navias said. "The station crew reported seeing the Progress drift beyond their view, as they worked to reestablish telemetry with the spacecraft."
The six people living aboard the space station – three Americans and three Russians – were never in any danger, NASA officials said.…
See SPACE.com for links to further info.
