The Progress M1-2 unmanned cargo spacecraft was launched successfully
this evening (April 25) from Baikonur Cosmodrome, and is heading for a
Thursday, April 27 docking with Mir.
“We are delighted that MirCorp has once again met its technical
milestone,” MirCorp President Jeffrey Manber said. “With today’s launch
and last week’s repair of the small air leak on Mir, we are well underway
with the renovation of our first home in space.”
Under terms of the historic Mir commercial lease agreement signed in
February, today’s Progress M1-2 launch was a MirCorp and RSC
Energia-funded mission. “There were no funds provided from any government
for the launch of Progress M1-2 to Mir,” Manber said. “This is a truly
commercial flight.”
Progress M1-2 will arrive at the station’s rear docking port, located on
the Kvant-1 module. It will replace the Progress M1-1 cargo re-supply
craft, which has been docked to Mir since early April.
The Progress spacecraft are used to ferry supplies, equipment and other
material to the Russian space station. They also carry air and propellant
for Mir, and the Progress’ own engines/thrusters often are used for burns
to change or correct the space station’s orbit.
On Mir, the docking interface fasteners with Progress M1-1 were
disassembled this afternoon, and cosmonauts Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander
Kalery closed the transfer hatches between the spacecraft and Mir’s Kvant
module. The Progress M1-1 is scheduled to undock from Mir tomorrow at
16h30 GMT, with the arrival of Progress M1-2 planned on Thursday at 21h30
GMT to take its place.
Progress M1-1 will be commanded to make a controlled destructive reentry
in the Earth’s atmosphere after a job well done in support of Mir’s
historic reactivation for MirCorp.
