Russia Progress 79 Launch: MS-18 Module Bringing Goods To Space, Smoothly Departs From Kazakhstan

Roscosmos has launched the third Progress cargo resupply trip to the International Space Station for 2021. The Progress MS-18 flight took off from Site 31/6 at 8:00 pm EDT on Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Progress MS-18 uses a two-day, 36 orbit rendezvous plan, arriving for docking at 9:34 pm EDT on Saturday, Oct. 30. This is due to phasing constraints for the forthcoming Oct. 31 launch of the Crew-3 mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Progress MS-18 mission is the second in a string of increased International Space Station (ISS) activity for Roscosmos at the end of the year. This was successful in crewed Soyuz MS-19 launch and crewed Soyuz MS-18 landing earlier this month.

Progress MS-18 is an uncrewed cargo resupply mission, unlike the fly earlier this month with a Russian actress and director.

NASA Space Flight said the Progress spacecraft's serial number is 447. Space scientists brought it to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in August 2020, where they placed it in storage following initial reception examinations.

NASA spokesman Rob Navias said during live launch commentary (via Space.com) said that the rocket had a perfect launch.

What Progress MS-18 Brought

Progress MS-18, also known as Progress 79P by NASA, brought about three metric tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the crew of the International Space Station. In a short statement, Roscosmos gave no additional details about the cargo. The spacecraft usually bring equipment replacements, fresh fruit and vegetables, and occasionally little presents for the crew, who spend at least six months in space at a time.

According to a NASA blog post on Monday, the Russian cosmonauts of Expedition 66 are doing normal backup skills to develop for the ship's arrival.

The agency added that cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov are rehearsing for that mission if they need to control the Progress 79 remotely. The Roscosmos duo practiced with the Zvezda service module's tele-robotically operated rendezvous unit, or TORU, which would take command during the Progress 79's automated approach and rendezvous.

Spacecraft To Stay In ISS For 6 Months

Space.com said Progress 79 would stay in the space station for nearly six months. Progress 78, the series' final supply vehicle, recently switched ports and spent 28 hours at a distance of around 120 miles (193 kilometers) from the orbiting complex during a unique station-keeping maneuver amid undocking at the Poisk module and redocking at the new Nauka module.

Progress will begin a sequence of approach burns, known as Impulse maneuvers, two hours before intended docking on docking day. Progress will do six Impulse movements before beginning a fly-around sequence to position itself with Zvezda's aft port.

The docking will take place five minutes after orbital sunset. On the other hand, Progress vessels are frequently early, allowing for a docking shortly before nightfall.

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