An antenna problem occurred when a Russian spacecraft launched Wednesday, heading toward the International Space Station (ISS) with cargo. The glitch occurred on the capsule once it got into orbit, according to NASA officials.
Russian ground controllers began assessing the situation of the Progress 51 cargo supply spacecraft. The cargo ship launched April 24 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:12 AM EDT. The unmanned ship was carrying tons of cargo and is expected to dock with the ISS April 26 as scheduled.
The cargo ship is carrying necessary supplies to the six ISS residents, which include Commander Chris Hadfield and NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn. Also among the Expedition 35 crew are Russian cosmonauts Roman Romanenko, Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin.
According to NASA officials, the inventory on the Progress spacecraft includes 1,764 pounds of propellant, 57 pounds of air, 48 pounds of oxygen, 926 pounds of water and 3,348 pounds of experimental hardware and spare parts.
As reported by Space.com, ground controllers worked to assess the issue with the antenna that is used for navigation and measuring the orientation of the ship after liftoff.
"The Russian flight controllers are continuing to monitor the spacecraft and to determine if there is a way to get the antenna deployed. They are also analyzing ways to dock the Progress to the station in its current configuration, including having the crew perform a manual docking," NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said. Officials are not sure if the scheduled docking time of the spacecraft to the ISS on Friday at 8:26 AM EDT will be affected by the issue with the antenna.
