Space exploration and penetration into its space is the eternal goal of scientific and technological progress and a completely logical stage of progress. The era, which is commonly called the space one, was opened on October 4, 1957 at the time of the launch of the first artificial satellite by the Soviet Union. Just three years later, Yuri Gagarin looked at the Earth through the window. Since then, space exploration by humans has been taking place exponentially. People’s interest in everything cosmic is growing. And the Progress space truck family is no exception.
Deliver cargo
Stations in the Salyut orbit were not used for long. And the reasons for this were the need to deliver fuel, life support elements, consumables and repair equipment to them in case of breakdowns. For the third generation of Salutes, it was decided to include the Soyuz manned spacecraft and a cargo element in the project, which later became known as the Progress cargo spacecraft. The permanent developer of the entire family of "Progresses" today remains the space rocket corporation "Energy" named after Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, located in the city of Korolev, in the Moscow region.
History
The project was developed under the code 7K-TG since 1973. On the base manned spacecraft of the Soyuz type, it was decided to provide for the design of an automatic transport spacecraft that will deliver up to 2.5 tons of cargo to the orbital station. The Progress cargo spacecraft went on a test launch in 1966, and the next year, on a manned one. The tests were successful and met the expectations of the designers. The first series of Progress cargo ships remained in operation until 1990. A total of 43 ships took off, including an unsuccessful launch called Cosmos-1669. Further, ship modifications were developed. Cargo space "Progress M" carried out 67 take-offs during 1989-2009. From 2000 to 2004, Progress M-1 made 11 take-offs. And the Progress MM cargo ship was launched up to 2015 29 times. The latest modification of "Progress MS" is relevant today.
How is everything going
The Progress cargo ship is an automatic unmanned vehicle that is put into orbit, then turns on the engines and approaches the orbital station. After 48 hours, he should dock and unload. After that, what is no longer needed at the station is placed in it: garbage, waste equipment, waste. From this moment on, it is already an object clogging the near-Earth space. It is undocked, with the help of engines it leaves the station, slows down, enters the Earth’s atmosphere, where the Progress cargo ship burns out. This happens at a given point over the Pacific Ocean.
How does it work
All modifications of the Progress cargo ship are generally designed in the same way. The differences in the filling and the specific supporting systems are understood only by specialists and are not the subject of the article. In the structure of any modification, several substantially different compartments are distinguished:
- cargo;
- refueling;
- instrument.
The cargo compartment is sealed and has a docking unit. Its purpose is to deliver the goods. The refueling compartment is not sealed. It contains toxic fuel and it is not leakproofness that protects the station in case of leakage. Aggregate or instrument compartment allows you to control the ship.
The very first
The Progress-1 cargo spacecraft soared into space on January 20, 1978. Checking the operation of control systems, proximity and docking equipment showed the possibility of rapprochement with the station. He docked with the Salyut-6 orbital station on January 22. The work of the ship was controlled by the Mission Control Center, and cosmonauts George Grechko and Yuri Romanenko led the process.
Latest
The latest modification "Progress MS" has a number of significant differences that have improved functionality and increased reliability of the cargo ship. In addition, it is equipped with more powerful protection against meteorites and space debris, has duplicate electric motors in the docking device. It is equipped with a modern command and telemetric system "Ray", which supports communication anywhere in the orbit. Launches are carried out using Soyuz launch vehicles from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The crash of the ship "Progress MS-4"
On New Year's Eve, December 1, 2016, the Soyuz-U launch vehicle launched from Baikonur, which took the Progress MS-4 cargo ship into orbit. He brought astronauts New Year's gifts, the Lada-2 greenhouse, Orlan-ISS spacesuit for working in outer space, and another cargo weighing 2.5 tons for cosmonauts of the International Space Station. But at 232 seconds of flight, the ship disappeared. Later it turned out that the rocket exploded and the ship did not reach orbit. The wreckage of the ship fell in the mountainous and uninhabited territory of the Republic of Tuva. The reasons for the crash were offered various.
"Progress MS-5"
This disaster did not affect further space work. On February 24, 2017, the Progress MS-5 cargo ship entered orbit, which reported some of the equipment that had been lost in the previous crash. And on July 21, it was disconnected from the International Space Station and safely flooded in that part of the Pacific Ocean, which is called the "space ship cemetery."
Future plans
The Rocket and Space Corporation Energia announced its plans to create a reusable manned transport ship Federation, which will replace unmanned progress. The new "truck" will be more load-bearing, have more advanced on-board and navigation systems. But the most important thing is that he will be able to return to Earth.