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[b]Progress M-15M aborts re-docking attempt after new rendezvous system fails[/b] The re-docking of Progress M-15M to the International Space Station has been postponed due to an apparent failure in the new Kurs-NA rendezvous system. The next earliest attempt at a re-docking would be no earlier than Tuesday, pending analysis of the problem, but it is more likely to wait until after Japan's HTV-3 cargo ship is grappled and berthed to the earth-facing port on the Harmony module on Friday. In that case, the next docking attempt for Progress would occur Saturday or Sunday. The test was proceeding normally on Monday (July 23) until about the time that the new Kurs-NA rendezvous system was to be engaged. As commands were being issued to activate the Kurs system, a failure was annunciated, triggering a passive abort. A passive abort is a standard automatic procedure that is designed to take the spacecraft to a safe distance away from the station should an anomaly occur. From that position, the spacecraft can make another attempt to approach the space station after the failure is understood and Russian mission managers validate another attempt. Progress M-15M flew approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 kilometers) below the station to a safe distance away from the orbiting outpost, where it will remain until another attempt is made to re-rendezvous with the space station.
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