The Progress MS-15 transport cargo ship set a new speed record for the flight to the ISS, the press service of the Roscosmos state Corporation reports.
“The flight time was 03: 18: 35,” the state Corporation reported.
The previous record was set by the Progress MS-14 cargo ship in April 2020, it flew to the station for 3 hours and 20 minutes.
The ship carries 2.6 tons of cargo, including more than 600 kg of fuel for refueling and 420 kg of water, oxygen cylinders and other cargo necessary for further operation of the station in manned mode.
The Russian Progress MS-15 cargo spacecraft docked at the International space station on Thursday, July 23, having reached it in less than four hours.
“The space” truck ” delivered to the station cargo with a total mass of more than 2.5 tons, necessary to maintain the flight of the ISS in manned mode and implement the program of scientific and applied research on Board,”-said in a statement published on the official website of Roscosmos.
Earlier in the day, a Soyuz-2.1 a carrier rocket with a Progress MS-15 cargo ship was launched to the ISS from the Baikonur cosmodrome. It was noted that this is the fifth flight of the cargo “Progress” on an ultra-fast two-turn scheme. Before it, either a standard two-day scheme was used, or a shortened six-hour one.
Alexander Agureev, head of the nutrition Department at the Institute of biomedical problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that the cosmonauts will receive compotes made of apples, pears and plums, and strawberry jam in addition to traditional food rations. In addition, Progress will deliver a traditional set of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Currently on the ISS are Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Wagner and American astronauts Christopher Cassidy, Douglas Hurley and Robert benken.
Preparations for the launch took place against the backdrop of a new outbreak of Coronavirus in the city of Baikonur, where Roscosmos planes arrived with doctors from the Federal medical and biological Agency (FMBA) Russia, equipment and medicines.
Earlier in the day, a Soyuz-2.1 a carrier rocket with a Progress MS-15 cargo ship was launched to the ISS from the Baikonur cosmodrome. It was noted that this is the fifth flight of the cargo “Progress” on an ultra-fast two-turn scheme. Before it, either a standard two-day scheme was used, or a shortened six-hour one.
