NASA to Air Launch of Russian Cargo Ship, Docking at International Space Station

The Russian Progress 60 cargo craft is seen shortly after undocking from the Space Station, Dec. 19, 2005. The unpiloted Russian Progress 71 cargo ship is scheduled to launch Friday, Nov. 16, to the orbiting laboratory, bringing food, fuel and supplies to the crew.

Credits: NASA

Loaded with almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies, a Russian Progress cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:14 p.m. EST Friday, Nov. 16 (12:14 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, Baikonur time), to resupply the International Space Station.

The launch of the unpiloted Russian Progress 71 and docking to the space station will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 1 p.m.

The spacecraft is set to dock to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module on the Russian segment at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18. NASA TV coverage of rendezvous and docking will begin at 1:45 p.m.

Progress 71 will remain docked at the station for more than four months before departing in March for its deorbit into Earth’s atmosphere.

Quelle: NASA

+++

Soyuz-FG-Träger mit Progress MC-10 Frachtschiff wurde zum Startplatz der № 1 Baikonur gebracht und auf Startplatz aufgerichtet. Start 16. November um 21:14 MSK.

Quelle: Roscosmos

---

Update: 15.11.2018

Russia to deliver 3D-bioprinter to orbital outpost in December

A copy of the Organ-Avt bioprinter will be delivered to the International Space Station during the launch of a new expedition from the Baikonur Cosmodrome

A copy of the Organ-Avt bioprinter devised to grow living tissue will be delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) during the launch of a new expedition from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the orbital outpost, Russia’s Cosmonaut Training Center said on its website on Tuesday.

"The magnetic 3D-bioprinter, the second copy of equipment for which will be delivered to the station aboard a Soyuz MS-11 manned transportation spacecraft," the Cosmonaut Training Center said in a statement.

The magnetic 3D-bioprinter is devised to grow living tissues and eventually organs and it can also be used to study the influence of outer space conditions on living organisms during lengthy flights.

The experiment has been devised by 3D Bioprinting Solutions, a bio-technical research laboratory, which is a Russian start-up and a subsidiary of Invitro company.

The plans to deliver the bioprinter’s first copy failed after the aborted launch of a Soyuz-FG booster with a manned Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft from the Baikonur spaceport on October 11.

On board the spacecraft were Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin (the commander of the Soyuz MS-10) and NASA astronaut Nick Hague.

This was the first emergency landing with this type of carrier rocket over the past 35 years.

As was reported earlier, the launch of the next expedition to the ISS is scheduled for December 3 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The new expedition will comprise Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Anne McClain and astronaut of the Canadian Space Agency David Saint-Jacques.

Quelle: TASS

---

Update: 16.11.2018

Soyuz-FG to perform first liftoff after failed October launch

Russia’s Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with the Progress MS-10 space freighter will blast off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on Friday, for the first time since the aborted launch in mid-October.

"The Progress MS-10 cargo spacecraft will blast off on November 16, at 21:14 Moscow time. The docking of the spacecraft with the International Space Station (ISS) will take place at 22:29 Moscow time on November 18," the Central Research Institute of Machine-Building (TsNIImash) has said.

The spacecraft will dock to the Zvezda module to deliver about 2.5 tonnes of cargo, including fuel, water and pressurized gases. The launch has been insured for a sum of 3.245 billion rubles ($48 million).

Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with a manned Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft blasted off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 11. On board the spacecraft were Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin (the commander of the Soyuz MS-10) and NASA astronaut Nick Hague.

Following a smooth liftoff, the Soyuz’s booster malfunctioned between the first and second stages of separating, whereupon the crew was forced to abort the flight and switch to ballistic descent. The manned Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft ended up landing safely in the Kazakh steppe. The crew was not hurt. This was the first emergency situation with the launch of a manned spacecraft over the past 35 years.

The incident-probing commission announced on November 1 that the emergency situation occurred after "a nozzle cover on the oxidizer tank failed to open due to the deformation of the separation contact sensor."

The sensor was damaged during the assembly of the rocket’s first stage at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Quelle: TASS

+++

Update: 19.30 MEZ

...