Russian Spacecraft Glitches Out on Its Way to ISS
Gizmodo • • world
Key Points:
- The Russian cargo spacecraft Progress 94 experienced a failure to deploy two automated rendezvous antennas after its launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, threatening its ability to dock autonomously with the ISS.
- Progress 94, carrying approximately 3 tons of supplies including food and fuel, is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Tuesday at 9:45 a.m. ET; Roscosmos is troubleshooting the antenna issue ahead of docking.
- If troubleshooting fails, cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov aboard the ISS will manually pilot the spacecraft using the TORU backup system to complete the docking.
- Aside from the antenna malfunction, all other systems on Progress 94 are functioning normally, and the spacecraft will remain docked to the ISS for six months before being deorbited.
- NASA will provide live coverage of the spacecraft’s rendezvous and docking on its YouTube channel starting Tuesday at 8:45 a.m. ET.
