Posted on 07/02/2010 8:39:40 PM PDT by ETL
An unmanned Russian cargo ship veered out of control near the International Space Station on Friday, sailing clear past the orbiting lab instead of docking on autopilot, as engineers on Earth struggle to determine what went wrong.
The robotic cargo ship Progress 38 was slated to dock at the space station at 12:58 p.m. EDT (1658 GMT) but lost its navigational lock on the orbiting lab about 28 minutes before the rendezvous.
"The Progress literally flew past the station, but at a safe distance from the outpost," NASA commentator Rob Navias said. "The station crew reported seeing the Progress drift beyond their view, as they worked to reestablish telemetry with the spacecraft." ..."
[snip]
"It's been officially decided that there will be no docking today," Russian flight controllers radioed the station crew.
Flight controllers at Russia's Mission Control team in Moscow are working to determine when a second attempt to dock the spacecraft may occur. Because of orbital mechanics, it may be possible to try another docking attempt in 48 hours, but that still remains to be determined, Navias said.
The aborted docking attempt is the second malfunction in a row for Russia's usually reliable Progress cargo ships.
On May 1, cosmonauts on the space station had to take remote control of the Progress 37 cargo ship when it experienced a space navigation system glitch during its own docking attempt.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
There goes all our vodka, caviar and black bread!
Well, I sure am relieved that Sub-commandante Zero has decided to give up on manned US space ventures, and just got done paying the Russians to take us up to orbit!
At least they didn’t knock a hole in this space station like they did the last one.
They were trying to do a Mir space station collision.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM7fTLLmgbk
We call it Pumpernickel.
And it is delicious.
bump
“…flew past the station, but at a safe distance… officially decided that there will be no docking today…”
I’m supposed to feel good about this, with a piece of space junk just waiting to drop out of the sky… So, I’ll just say to myself; self this is the best rocket science has to offer at the best price from ACME Inc. (just could not resist on this one)
Zero can’t even fill his own hole, let alone manage another free floating idea!/s (no I really really mean it)
bump
is there a part 2 to that video?
In soviet russia, spaceship crashes YOU!
The last time it hit the station, causing some minor damages to a antennae array and some other stuff.
Yumm. Maybe the wayward craft will detour towards my house...
One of my favorite breads.
“Spaceship” sounds so much more glamorous than “aimlessly drifting cargo container”.
It was Mir miss...
too easy
next?
I haven’t seen it.
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