Russian Soyuz Progress 51 cargo spacecraft leaves ISS

Credit: NASA

The Russian Progress 51 cargo spacecraft, now filled with trash, separated from the aft-end port of the Zvezda service module of the International Space Station on June 11, 2013. 

The Progress 51 will orbit Earth for a few days while controllers in Moscow perform engineering tests.

Then, the cargo craft will re-enter the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, and burn up.

Mars: Are Dreams of Human Habitation and exploration achievable?

NASA and private sector experts now agree that a man or woman could be sent on a mission to Mars over the next 20 years, despite huge challenges.

The biggest names in space exploration, among them top officials from the US space agency and Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, will discuss the latest projects at a three-day conference starting Monday in the US capital.

Renewed interest in the red planet has triggered the launch of several initiatives in recent months, including one proposing a simple one-way trip to cut costs.

The American public also favours sending astronauts to Mars, according to a survey by non-profit group Explore Mars and US aerospace giant, Boeing.

The poll in March of more than a thousand people published in March found that 71 percent of Americans expect that humans will land on Mars by 2033.

Seventy-five percent say NASA’s budget should be doubled to one percent of the federal budget to fund a mission to Mars and other initiatives.

Buzz Aldrin

NASA receives only 0.5 percent of the US federal budget, compared to four percent during the Apollo project to conquer the moon in the 1960s.

The US space agency’s chief, and ex-astronaut, Charles Bolden has stressed that ‘a human mission to Mars is a priority.’

But the US financial crisis is a major obstacle to such a project.

‘If we started today, it’s possible to land on Mars in 20 years,’ said G. Scott Hubbard of Stanford University.

‘It doesn’t require miracles, it requires money and a plan to address the technological engineering challenges,’ added Hubbard, who served as NASA’s first Mars program director and successfully restructured the entire Mars program in the wake of mission failures.

Scott Hubbard

Placing a mass of 30-40 tonnes — the amount estimated to be necessary to make a habitat on the red planet — would be one of the greatest challenges, along with the well-known problem of carrying or producing enough fuel to get back, Hubbard stressed.

The Curiosity rover took a nail-biting seven minutes in August to make its descent on Mars, but it only weighed one tonne.

The $2.5 billion Curiosity mission, which is set to last at least two years, aims to study the Martian environment and to hunt for evidence of water in preparation for a possible future manned mission.

Robotic missions will therefore be necessary to prove the system works before scientists can even contemplate sending humans aboard.

NASA is currently developing a Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion Crew transport capsule for distant space exploration.

The Orion Transportation Capsule, shown below, will be powered by the European ATV power unit, part of a long-standing collaborative agreement with ESA.

Russian Progress 51 Cargo Spacecraft Docks with ISS - Video

The Russian Progress 51 automatically docked to the the ISS's Zvezda Service Module on April 26th, 2013. A navigational antenna did not diploy shortly after launch but mission controllers worked around the problem.

Credit: NASA

Russian Progress 51 cargo spacecraft successfully docked to the ISS - Antenna Fault

A Russian Progress 51 robotic spacecraft successfully docked to the International Space Station today (April 26, 2013).

CREDIT: NASA TV

An unmanned cargo-carrying spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station Friday morning (April 26), despite a glitch in the capsule's navigation system.

After its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the Russian Progress 51 spacecraft failed to deploy one of the two antennas used for the Kurs automated docking system.

Russian ground controllers were able to reposition the antenna, allowing the automated docking to go ahead as planned.

Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Roman Romanenko kept an eye on Progress as it moved into position.

"We have contact," one of the cosmonauts said after docking, "We have capture."

Although the cosmonauts were prepared to take over docking procedures, the automated system worked and the spacecraft fully docked to the station at 8:34 a.m. EDT (1234 GMT) while flying 251 miles (404 kilometers) over the border between China and Kazakhstan.

The approach to the space station was slower than usual because controllers on the ground and astronauts on the International Space Station were carefully monitoring Progress's position, NASA officials said.

At first the Progress was "soft-docked" and not secured in place with hooks in latches, giving the station crew and flight controllers a chance to make sure its stuck antenna posed no risk to the station's exterior.

When they saw it was safe, the Progress was slowly drawn into the port and secured.



Progress delivered 1,764 pounds (800 kg) of propellant, 57 pounds (26 kg) of air, 48 pounds (21 kg) of oxygen, 926 pounds (420 kg) of water and 3,348 pounds (1519 kg) of experiment hardware, spare parts and other supplies to the residents of the space station, NASA officials said.