Cargo ship docks at ISS

2004-12-26 09:26

Korolyov - An unmanned Russian cargo spaceship on a vital supply mission docked early Sunday at the international space station, carrying food for the two-member US-Russian crew, who have been forced to ration their dwindling supplies.

The Progress M-51 moored at the orbiting station at 02:58 Moscow time on Sunday, officials at Russian mission control in Korolyov outside of Moscow said. Workers at the Russian centre broke into applause when the docking, shown on large television screens, was completed.

The spaceship, which lifted off on Friday from the remote Baikonur cosmodrome in the steppes of Kazakhstan, carries about 2.5 tons of food, water, fuel and research equipment for Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and US astronaut Leroy Chiao, who are in their third month on the station.

"The docking went out without any problems," said Yuri Semyonov, general engineer with the Energiya company, which manufactures the Progress. "They can greet the New Year calmly."

Chiao and Sharipov were scheduled later on Sunday to enter the Progress to begin unloading the cargo, which included Christmas and New Year's gifts for the crew from their families and friends.

Russian and American space officials were alarmed earlier this month to learn that the two had gone through so much food on the station.

NASA officials have said there was enough food to last seven to 14 days beyond December 25, but warned that the crew would have been forced to return to Earth if Progress didn't successfully dock at the station.

Turkey for Christmas dinner

The crew was earlier ordered to cut back on meals because food was running short, and the Itar-Tass news agency said there was no turkey for Christmas dinner. Russian space officials downplayed the concerns, saying the crew has enough food for another month.

An international team was looking into how the station's food inventory ended up being tracked so poorly.

"I don't remember in 40 years ever encountering this situation," Semyonov said.

Alexei Krasnov, a Russian Space Agency official, said it was likely there was turkey - in some form - included in the delivery.

Russian Soyuz crew capsules and Progress cargo ships have been the only link to the space station since the US shuttle fleet was grounded after the shuttle Columbia burned up on re-entry in February 2003, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

The Progress is also carrying scientific equipment, including a German-made robotic device.

NASA has said it plans to resume its shuttle program in May.

The next Progress delivery was scheduled for February 28.

- AP