A Russian space cargo ship docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, delivering fresh supplies and equipment to the orbit station, said the Mission Control center outside Moscow.
After two days of automatic flight, the Progress M-05M freighter docked successfully with ISS at around 10: 30 p.m. Moscow time (1830 GMT), said Valery Lyndin, spokesman for the Mission Control center.
The space ship lifted off on Wednesday night from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, delivering more than 2.5 tons of various supplies to the ISS, including food, water, fuel, scientific equipment, as well as fruits, cheese, chocolates, candies, movie disks, books and magazines for the crew members from their families, Xinhua reported. As the long-enduring backbone of Russian space cargo fleet, the Progress freighters are also used to correct the ISS orbit and conduct scientific experiments. The new generation of Progress vehicles is lighter in weight and equipped with a modern digital control system, which enables the spacecraft to dock with the ISS more accurately.