| Progress Spacecraft |
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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 Station s 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. 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 Tonne s 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. DESIGN Progress is of much the same size and shape as Soyuz . It consists of three modules:
Reduction in Weight was possible because the Progress was designed to be unmanned and disposable. This means that there is no need for bulky life support systems and Heat Shield s. The spacecraft also has no ability to split into separate modules. After undocking, the spacecraft performs a retrofiring and burns up in the atmosphere. VERSIONS There were many small variations between the different flights, but the major upgrades are reflected in the change of name. Progress There were 42 spacecraft under the name Progress, the last one being launched in May 1990 . The bureau in charge of designing the freighter was TsKBEM (now RKK Energia ). They began work on the design in mid- 1973 , assigning Progress the rather cryptic designation 11F615A15. The design was complete by February , 1974 , and the first production model was ready for launch in November 1977 . Progress 1 launched on January 20 , 1978 aboard the same rocket used to launch the Soyuz. It still featured the same launch shroud as the Soyuz, though this was purely for aerodynamic purposes as the Launch Escape System had been deactivated. This first version of Progress had a mass of 7,020 kg and carried 2,300 kg of cargo, or 30% of its Launch Weight . It had the same diameter as the Soyuz at 2.2 metres, but was 8 metres in length—slightly longer. The autonomous flight time was 3 days, the same time as that of the Soyuz ferry. It could spend one month docked. Progress always docked to the aft port of the station it was resupplying.
Progress M The upgrade Progress M was first launched in August 1989 . The first 43 flights all went to Mir ; following Mir's re-entry, there have been about 10 flights to the International Space Station , and more are scheduled. It is essentially the same spacecraft as the Progress, but it features improvements from the Soyuz T and Soyuz TM . It can spend up to 30 days in autonomous flight and is able to carry 100 kg more to Mir . Also, contrary to the old Progress crafts, it can return items to Earth. This is accomplished by using the Raduga capsule, which can carry up to 150 kg of cargo. It is 1.5 m long and 60 cm in diameter and has a " Dry Weight " of 350 kg. Progress M can dock to the forward port of the station and still transfer fuel. It uses the same rendezvous system as the Soyuz, and it features solar panels for the first time.
Progress M1 Progress M1 was another variant, capable of carrying more propellant (but less total cargo) to the stations. There have been 11 of these flights.
CURRENT STATUS This spacecraft is still in use today for the International Space Station . Between February 1 , 2003 and July 26 , 2005 , it was the only spacecraft available to transport large quantities of supplies to the station, as the Space Shuttle fleet was grounded after the breakup of the '' Columbia '' at the end of STS-107 . For ISS missions, the Progress M1 variant is used, which moves the water tanks from the propellant and refueling module to the pressurized section, and as a result is able to carry more propellant. Like the Soyuz (and unlike most American space ships), the Progress has an autonomous navigation system that usually allows for automatic docking with the space station. It can be manually overridden if necessary. The European Space Agency (ESA) is planning its own supply freighter called the Automated Transfer Vehicle . The first of these, the '' Jules Verne '', is due for launch in mid 2007 . It will be able to carry up to 7.5 tonnes of cargo into space, roughly three times as much as the Progress, and will be launched every 12 months by an Ariane 5 rocket. RKK Energia has proposed as a replacement for the Progress spacecraft a new spacecraft by the name of Parom which means ferry in Russian. This new spacecraft would retrieve either the proposed Kliper or any other cargo container with a Russian airlock up to 15 tons back to the ISS. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINK
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