Progress MS-14 docks at space station

Russia's Progress MS-14 cargo spacecraft docked at 1:12 a.m. EDT (0512 GMT) on Saturday (April 25) to the Zvezda service module at the International Space Station.

From launch to docking, the total duration of the two-orbit rendezvous was 3 hours and 21 minutes

Previously, the record duration belonged to Progress M-17, which in 1993-1994 spent 337 days in orbit, including as part of the Mir station.

Progress MS-14, which was launched at 1:52 GMT on Sunday, April 25, 2020 and is now docked to the Zvezda module of the Russian segment of the ISS, exceeded that duration.

Progress MS-14 spacecraft to de-orbit on April 29

The record-breaking orbital mission of the Progress MS-14 cargo spacecraft lasting over a year is ending. In accordance with the Russian flight program of the International Space Station, on April 28, 2021 at 02:11:30 Moscow time [2311:30 GMT or 7:11:30 p.m. EDT on April 27], the Progress MS-14 spacecraft undocked from the Zvezda module of the ISS Russian segment in the normal mode.

The hatches between the Russian "space truck" and the ISS were closed back on April 19, 2021. Tonight [April 28], at 02:10 Moscow time [2310 GMT or 7:10 p.m. EDT April 27], a command was issued to open the hooks of the Progress MS-14 spacecraft, it was undocked from the station and sent "on free voyage," which would last a day. During its prolonged autonomous flight, the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia specialists (part of Roscosmos) will be testing a new deorbit attitude control system.

The propulsion system of the cargo ship will be switched on for braking at 03:01:28 Moscow time on April 29 [0001:28 GMT or 8:01:28 p.m. EDT on April 28]. Four minutes later, it will shut down and the ship will continue its descent. In accordance with the MCC calculated data, at 03:34:23 Moscow time [00:34:23 GMT or 8:34:23 p.m. EDT], Progress MS-14 will enter the dense layers of the Earth's atmosphere. The non-combustible structural elements of the ship will drop in the non-navigable area of the Pacific Ocean, 3,150 km [1,960 mi] from the city of Wellington and 7,390 km [4,590 mi] from the city of Santiago.

The Progress MS-14 spacecraft took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and docked to the ISS Zvezda module assembly compartment on April 25, 2020, 3 hours, 20 minutes after the liftoff making it the fastest docking scheme spacecraft in the history of flights to the International Space Station. A new record among freighters was set by the next Progress MS, which reached the ISS in 3 hours, 18 minutes and 31 seconds.

Progress MS-14 cargo vehicle set two more records: it will stay a record year and four days in orbit, surpassing the achievement of the Progress M-17 spacecraft, which spent 337 days in space in 1993-1994, delivering cargo to the Mir orbital station. In addition, Progress MS-14 ensured 10 ISS orbit adjustments, two of them unscheduled.

A year ago we received the Progress MS-14 ship at the ISS that reached the station in 3 hours and 20 minutes after liftoff, a record at that time (you can see its solar panel on the left side of the photo).

Today it undocked from the ISS, just over a year later, which is also a record!

Also during a small self-isolation at the end of summer, we organized a washing area in Progress MS-14. So it was not only a cargo ship and a cargo storage area for us, but also became our second home for some time.