A Russian space craft docked at the International Space Station Sunday morning and delivered much-needed supplies after two days of flying. This is an important triumph after two crafts failed to deliver cargo consecutively.
The unmanned rocket blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Friday. NASA said that the Russian Progress 60 mission carried 6,100 pounds of fuel, water, food, experiments, oxygen and other supplies, according to Washington Post.
ISS tweeted that the completed mission felt like “Christmas in July.” Three astronauts–NASA’s Scott Kelly, Cmdr. Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko of Russia–have been waiting for the SpaceX supplies.
These missions are usually routine; however, the past two mission have been busts.
This launch was the first since the SpaceX Falcon 9 unmanned spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida and exploded in June. It was carrying water filtration equipment, crew provisions, a spacesuit, water, food and student experiments.
It is unclear what caused the explosion; an investigation is underway. Elon Musk, SpaceX founder, tweeted that the Federal Aviation Administration is “expected to reach preliminary conclusions” regarding the explosion by the end of the week.
The explosion followed another failed mission. The Russian Progress 59 mission spun out of control in orbit in an attempt to deliver supplies in April. And last October, an Orbital ATK craft blew up just after takeoff.
In light of the recent failures, there was a lot of pressure on the Russian Progress 60. Nevertheless, Friday’s launch was perfect and NASA said t docked at the space station early Sunday morning.
Later this month, a Russian Soyuz rocket will carry three passengers to the ISS. One of the passengers will be Kjell Lindgren, who was a flight surgeon at Johnson Space Center before becoming an astronaut, and he will join Scott Kelly to study how the body reacts in space for long periods of time.