Progress MS‑35 cargo ship enters orbit with Teledroid Gear
Russia’s Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft, which was launched from the Baikonur spaceport, has successfully separated from the third stage of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket, TASS reported.
The rocket placed the spacecraft, weighing about 7.4 metric tons, into orbit; it is now heading toward the International Space Station (ISS). The approach and docking of Progress MS-35 with the Poisk module of the Russian ISS segment is scheduled for September 19 at 4:46 p.m. Moscow time (1:46 p.m. GMT).
As part of the 95th resupply mission to the International Space Station, the Progress spacecraft will deliver approximately 2.4 metric tons of cargo, including 842 kg of fuel to refuel the station, 420 kg of drinking water, and 50 kg of oxygen to replenish the ISS atmosphere. In addition, the spacecraft will deliver 1,275 kg of food for the cosmonauts, including fresh produce, 357 kg of medical supplies and hygiene products, and 20 kg of medications and weightlessness countermeasure systems. Equipment and consumables for the Teledroid, Gas Analyzer-FS, Biopolymer, Virtual, Vampire, Hurricane, and Separation experiments have also been sent to the station.
During the Teledroid mission, Roscosmos cosmonauts will explore the possibility of using a remotely controlled anthropomorphic robot to support cosmonaut spacewalks. To this end, a so-called cosmonaut workstation (exoskeleton) is being delivered to the station aboard the Progress MS-35 spacecraft, which the cosmonaut will use to control the robot. Cosmonaut Anna Kikina underwent training on Earth to serve as the operator. The Teledroid anthropomorphic robot itself will be delivered on the next cargo spacecraft.
During the experiments aboard the ISS, the team plans to test a series of operations, including retrieving objects from storage, simulating the transfer of a tool to a cosmonaut without physical interaction, simulating work with the tool, and returning objects to storage.
Earlier, it was reported that a photo exhibition dedicated to Baikonur Cosmodrome opened in St. Petersburg in early August.
