Progress spacecraft

The Progress is a Russian expendable unmanned freighter spacecraft; it was derived from the Soyuz spacecraft, and is launched with the Soyuz launch vehicle. It is currently used to supply the International Space Station, but was originally used to supply Russian space stations for many years. There are three to four flights of the Progress spacecraft to the ISS per year. Each spacecraft remains docked until shortly before the new one arrives. Then it is filled with waste, disconnected, deorbited, and destroyed in the atmosphere.

Related Topics:
Russian - Soyuz spacecraft - Soyuz launch vehicle - International Space Station - Space station

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It has carried fuel and other supplies to all the space stations since Salyut 6. The idea for the Progress came from the realisation that in order for long duration space missions to be possible, there would have to be constant source of supplies. It had been determined that a cosmonaut needed 30 kg of consumables a day; this equates to 5.4 tonnes over a 6 month stay. It was impractical to launch this along with cargo of the Space Shuttle missions, or in the small space available in the Soyuz.

Related Topics:
Salyut 6 - Tonne - Space Shuttle

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