If you are making a quick delivery of a package, there are many logistics carriers to choose from: Fedex, UPS, DHL and many more, all of which have dozens of years of experiences.
But if your package is heading to the ISS, the number of ways of delivery is limited. And of the many methods available today, only one can be said to be proved so many times that it has become essentially a "scheduled flight service" that rarely got derailed.
Its name is Progress.
Today we see the start of the 150th Progress mission to fly since the very first one in 1978. With an almost flawless flight record despite various problems with some of the spacecraft, the veteran cargo ship continues to be the vital link of cargo, fuel and water deliveries to the space station. And to cope with the latest needs of the mission, new design features continues to debut on the Progress! Today's launch will be the 2nd Progress mission to use the relatively new Soyuz-2.1a rocket, which provides higher orbit injection accuracy than the old Soyuz-U variant, allowing the later to finally retire sometime next year.
Without further adieu, here are some info about the mission!
Launch location:
Baikonur Launch pad no. 31/6 45°59'46.16"N, 63°33'51.29"E
Launch dates and times:
[table="head"]{colsp=6}Launch times
Time Zone|
Australia - Sydney/AEST (UTC+10)
|
Baikonur / UTC+6
|
Moscow / MSKS (UTC+3)/
|
Universal / UTC
|
Washington / EDT (UTC-4)
Launch time (Primary):
|
17:09:50
|
13:09:50
|
10:09:50
|
07:09:50
|
03:09:50
on:
|
Apr. 28, 2015
|
Apr. 28, 2015
|
Apr. 28, 2015
|
Apr. 28, 2015
|
Apr. 28, 2015
Launch time (Backup):
|
16:24:41
|
12:24:41
|
09:24:41
|
06:24:41
|
02:24:41
on:
|
Apr. 30, 2015
|
Apr. 30, 2015
|
Apr. 30, 2015
|
Apr. 30, 2015
|
Apr. 30, 2015
{colsp=6}
[highlight][eventTimer]2015-04-28 07:09:50?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Progress M-27M Launch[/highlight]
[/table]
[table="head"]{colsp=5}Docking times
Time Zone|
Australia - Sydney/AEST (UTC+10)
|
Moscow / MSKS (UTC+3)/
|
Universal / UTC
|
Washington / EDT (UTC-4)
Docking time (Primary):
|
23:06:39 ±3 min
|
16:06:39 ±3 min
|
13:06:39 ±3 min
|
09:06:39 ±3 min
on:
|
Apr. 28, 2015
|
Apr. 28, 2015
|
Apr. 28, 2015
|
Apr. 28, 2015
Docking time (Backup):
|
18:53 ±3 min
|
11:53 ±3 min
|
08:53 ±3 min
|
04:53 ±3 min
on:
|
May 2, 2015
|
May 2, 2015
|
May 2, 2015
|
May 2, 2015
{colsp=5}
[highlight][eventTimer]2015-04-28 13:06:39?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Progress M-27M docking to ISS[/highlight]
[/table]
Live Coverage Of The Launch:
Progress M-27M (industry id 11F615A60 #426, NASA id Progress 59P) cargo spaceship
Cargo Manifest
Code:
Total mass of spacecraft at launch 7289 kg
Propellants for the propulsion system (KDU) 879 kg
Propellants in the refueling system 494 kg
Oxygen 50 kg
Water in Rodnik ("Creek") system tanks 420 kg
Pressured section cargo (total mass 1393 kg)
Equpiment for systems:
* SOGS atmosphere composition control 13 kg
* SVO water supply control 23 kg
* SOTR heat exchange control 43 kg
* STOR maintenance and repair 12 kg
* SUBA control system accessories 6 kg
* SEP power supply system 91 kg
* BITS2 telemetry and info system 0.2 kg
* MBRL antenna 3 kg
* Equipment for "Regulus-OS" 17 kg
* Tools for repair 47 kg
*SGO Hygiene and sanitation items 215 kg
*Food rations, fresh products 391 kg
*Medical equipment, underwear,
personal hygiene and care, station
air purity checking and cleaning 136 kg
*Personal protection equipment 57 kg
*Science experiments and apparatus
equipment 32 kg
*FGB Zarya equipment 44 kg
*Personal delivery for Russian
crew members 31 kg
*US Segment equipment 116 kg
*ESA equipment 1 kg
Total cargo mass 2357 kg
Mission Profile
Ascent Chart:
1. Approach and Docking Chart:
The times below are in Moscow Standard Time (UTC+3):
The expected payload separation time: 10:18:38.27
2. Orbital Parameters of Progress M-27M and the ISS
Parameter|Designation|Prorgess-M-27M on 4/28|ISS on 4/28
Orbital Period|T, min|88.53 ±0.05|92.45
Inclination|i, degrees|51.67 ±0.03|51.67
Min altitude|h, km|193 ±2|398.01
Max altitude|H, km|238 ±5|411.02
Phase angle between the space ship and the ISS is about
28 degrees
Projected duration of the space ship at the nominal orbit is no less than 20 orbits (~30 hrs)
3. Transfer manoeuvres
(six hours approach scheme applied)
* Nominal two-burn manoeuvre forming a phasing orbit
Date|Burn at|Orbit #|Delta V, m/s|Burn duration, s|post-burn T,min|post-burn i,deg|post-burn h,km|post-burn H,km
28.04.15|10:52:18|1|26.47|66.6|89.44|51.65|219.3|283.9
28.04.15|11:29:06|2|21.45|53.8|90.18|51.67|281.5|300.6
28.04.15|12:13:13|2|7.00|18.4|90.43|51.67|292.8|313.8
28.04.15|12:43:18|2|7.00|18.4|90.67|51.64|307.4|335.2
Autonomous approach program is initiated at 14:01:47.
4. Approach at the Close range
Fly-around, station keeping and docking procedures will be used on 2015-04-28 from 15:46:13 ±3 min to docking contact
5. Docking
Contact and capture will be performed on 2015-04-28 at 16:07:34 ±3 min
Docking is to DC-1 Pirs -Y docking port
Launch Vehicle:
[table="head"]{colsp=2}Characteristics
|[table="head"]{colsp=2}
Soyuz-2.1a
Prime contractor:
|
- Samara Space Centre (Energia Holding enterprise)
GRAU Index:
|
Height:
| 51.1 m
Diameter:
| max 10.3 m
Liftoff mass:
| 313 metric tonnes
Payload mass:
| up to 6830 kg (a launch to LEO from Plesetsk)
1st stage (boosters B, V, G, D):
|
- 4 X RD-107 engines
- Propellants (T-1 Kerosene and LOX)
- Thrust/ISP in vacuum - / 320.2 s
- Thrust/ISP at sea level 85.6 tonnes / 263.3 s
2nd stage (core A):
|
- 1 X RD-108 engine
- Propellants (T-1 Kerosene and LOX)
- Thrust/ISP in vacuum 94 tonnes / 320.6 s
- Thrust/ISP at sea level 80.8 tonnes / 257.7 s
3rd stage (block I):
|
- 1 X RD-0110 engine
- Propellants (T-1 Kerosene and LOX)
- Thrust/ISP in vacuum 30.38 tonnes / 326 s
Payload Fairing:
|
- Diameter 3.2 m
- Length 8.4 m
[/table]
[/table]
The launch vehicle's reliability standings
According to
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/log2015.html#rate:
Code:
================================================================
Vehicle Successes/Tries Realzd Pred Consc. Last Dates
Rate Rate* Succes Fail
================================================================
Soyuz 2-1a 5 5# 1.00 .86 5 None 2004-
# Does not include one successful suborbital Soyuz 2-1a test
flight performed in 2004.
Weather forecast for Baikonur, Kazakhstan on April 28, 2015 (1 p.m.)
Abundant sunshine. High 22C. Winds light and variable.
Time|Temps|Dew Point|Relative Humidity|Precip|Snow|Cloud cover|Pressure|Wind|Weather
1 PM|17°C|-1°C|29%|0%|0%|0%|1026 hPa|2 km/h E|
Clear
) Just like the Cygnus, the rocket carrying the 57th Progress mission to the ISS has got some upgrades that will provide benefits to its logistics mission.
