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Russian Supply Ship Docks At International Space Station After Flawless Flight

International Space Station

A Russian Progress supply ship docked at the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday evening just six hours after launch from Kazakhstan.

The flight was problem free and went exactly as planned, bringing 3.1 tons of supplies and equipment to the astronauts aboard the ISS, reports CBS News.

A flawless journey of six hours and three minutes,” said. Rob Navias, NASA’s mission controller commentator. The flight went “by the book, with no issues whatsoever,” he commented.

A flawless journey of six hours three minutes for the Progress 61 cargo craft. All the pre-programmed engine firings to increase its altitude and to begin the journey to catch up to the International Space Station went by the book, with no issues whatsoever.

The mission began at 10:49 p.m. GMT -4 local time for lift-off. The ship’s booster roared to life and sent the ship into space just two minutes after ISS passed overhead.

According to Business Insider, both the launch and docking were trouble-free after a Progress launch in April ended in failure and the Space X failure in June when the Falcon 9 rocket exploded shortly after takeoff.

The supplies aboard the cargo ship included garlic, oranges, grapefruit, mustard, air and fuel.

NASA strives to maintain a six-month reserve of supplies aboard the ISS in the possibility of a launch failure or other event that could disrupt the supply deliveries to the space station.

Since the failure of SpaceX in June, the Russians have successfully launched a Progress mission in July, and Japan sent up its fifth cargo ship in August. The space station’s reserves should be back to normal by the end of the year with this newest shipment of supplies and the planed launch of another Progress ship on November 21 and an Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo ship set to launch on December 3.

The next mission to send supplies via SpaceX is set for launch on January 3 after several delays.

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