Cargo spacecraft "Progress M1-7"

USSR

Flight: ISS-6P (the 6th cargo ship to ISS).

Launch, orbit & landing data:

Designation	26983 / 01051A
Launch date - time	26 Nov 2001 - 18:24:12 UT
Launch site	Baikonur, LC1/5
Launch vehicle	Soyuz-FG (N° F15000-002)
OKB name - S/N°	Progress M1 (N° 256)
Mass (kg)	7200?
Total cargo mass (kg)
Earth orbit on :
- Perigee / Apogee	192 x 254 km
- Inclination	51.7°
- Period	88.7 min

Docking date - time	28 Nov 2001 - 19:43:02 UT Soft docking
Docking date - time	03 Dec 2001 - 14:54 UT Hard docking
Target spacecraft/port	ISS/Zvezda aft port
Docking orbit:
- Perigee / Apogee	373 x 387 km
- Inclination	51.64°
- Period	92.16 min
Undocking date - time	19 Mar 2002 - 17:43 UT
Deorbit burn date - time	20 Mar 2002 - 01:27 UT
Destruction date - time	20 Mar 2002 - 02:20 UT (burned up in atmosphere)
Flight Duration (dd:hh:min)	113d 07h
Nbr orbits

Note: equiped with satellite Kolibri.

Mission summary:

Cargo supplies delivery. The launch objective was to provide the Station maintenance, delivery of various cargoes, including cargoes to support the scientific and application research program implementation. The vehicle carried about 2.4 tons of propellant, including propellant for refueling the Russian Segment; food rations for the ISS crews; potable water reserves; food intake means, atmospheric revitalization system, thermal control system, sanitary-hygienic and water support systems equipment; kits of flight data files (books and compact discs) and many other cargoes including fresh fruit.
Notes:
A rubber ring seal prevented a proper hard docking, so a contingency spacewalk was performed on 3 December by V. Dezhurov and M. Tyurin to remove this and enable the ship to be remotely hard-docked at 14:52 by TsUP.
Delivery to the orbit of the small science satellite called Kolibri (March 19, 2002).

Mission report:

A Progress robot cargo supply ship, Progress M1-7 (vehicle No. 256), was launched on Nov 26, 2001 by the uprated Soyuz-FG rocket (a Soyuz-U with improved core packet engines).
Progress M1-7 soft docked to the Zvezda module at 19:43 UTC on Nov 28. The docking probe was connected to Zvezda, but the vehicle was not firmly latched, preventing hatch opening and raising fears that vibration from a Shuttle docking could knock the spacecraft loose. A rubber seal left over from the previous occupant of the docking port, Progress M-45 was blocking the docking system and a spacewalk was required to clear it out of the way before a final seal could be made.
This was very similar to the situation in April 1987 when astronauts had to make a spacewalk to fix an almost identical problem with the docking of the Kvant module to Mir.
Dezhurov and Tyurin depressurized the Pirs airlock on Dec 3, 2001; by 13:06 UTC pressure passed 50 mbar. After a 5 minute leak check at 21 mbar, the spacesuits went to battery power, the pressure was brought down even lower to 14 mbar and the hatch was opened at 13:20 UTC. Dezhurov and Tyurin emerged at around 13:27 UTC and by 14:40 UTC were at the aft end of Zvezda. They identified the debris fouling the docking port as the rubber O-ring from the Progress M-45 docking system. At 14:53 UTC the debris was removed and a minute later ground controllers successfully commanded the Progress M1-7 to complete a firm docking. Dezhurov and Tyurin returned to Pirs at 15:59 UTC, closing the hatch at 16:06 and repressurizing at 16:09 for an EVA duration of 3hr3min (depress/repress), 2hr46min (hatch open/close, Russian rule) or 2hr 55min (NASA rule).
On Jan 8, 2002 at 19:45 UT (approximate time): Progress M1-7's rocket engines are tested briefly prior to an orbit re-boost planned for the following day - orbit is 378 x 381 kilometres
On Jan 10 at 01:35 UT: mission Control, Moscow fire Progress M1-7's rocket engines in the first stage of a two-part re-boost of the International Space Station orbit
On Jan 10 at 03:43 UT: mission Control, Moscow fire Progress M1-7's rocket engines in the second stage of a two-part re-boost of the International Space Station orbit - it is now 392 x 401 kilometres, nearly two kilometres lower than expected - when calculating parameters of the burn, Russian engineers did not allow sufficiently for the pressure drop in the 30 metre long internal fuel line from Zvezda to Progress
Progress M1-7 undocked from Zvezda’s aft port at 17:43 UT on Mar 19, 2002. The Kolibri-2000 micro satellite was ejected from the Progress cargo compartment at 22:28 UT; Progress fired its engines to deorbited over the Pacific at about 01:27 UT on Mar 20.

Note: NASA refers to the new Progress as `Progress 6', a shorthand for the fact that Progress M1-7 is space station flight 6P. However, the real `Progress-6' was launched to Salyut-6 in May 1979, but Progress M1-7 or Progress No. 256 (the factory serial number) is better.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Baikonur, registered mail

Launch cancel Baikonur, with 3 different cancels.

Docking cancel Korolev.

Ref.: #7(JR468-469,474), #21, #125, #210, #230, #401 - update: 18.03.19

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