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[b]Progress M-21M docks with space station[/b] A Russian space freighter docked to the aft port of the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module at 4:30 p.m. CST (2230 GMT) on Friday (Nov. 29), delivering almost three tons of food, fuel, supplies and holiday gifts for the Expedition 38 crew. The Progress M-21M cargo ship, which launched Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, performed an automated approach to the station using upgraded Kurs automated rendezvous equipment. The on-orbit performance of the new Kurs hardware was tested earlier by Russian flight controllers during a flyby of the station Wednesday during which the Progress came to within one mile of the orbiting complex. The lighter, revamped Kurs system will be integrated into advanced Progress and piloted Soyuz vehicles in the future. When the Progress was about 200 feet (60 meters) from the docking port, it went into an unexpected station keeping mode. Expedition 38 commander Oleg Kotov took over manual control of the vehicle using TORU, the telerobotically operated docking system, and guided the vehicle in for a successful docking. At the time of docking, the station was flying about 260 miles (420 km) over Kazakhstan. On Saturday, the crew will open the hatch to the Progress to begin unloading its cargo. Progress M-21M is filled with 2.9 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the space station crew, including 1,763 pounds of propellant, 48 pounds of oxygen, 57 pounds of air, 925 pounds of water and 3,119 pounds of spare parts, experiment hardware and holiday gifts.
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