Progress M-7
Encyclopedia
Progress M-7 was a Soviet
unmanned cargo spacecraft which was launched in 1991 to resupply the Mir
space station. The twenty-fifth of sixty four Progress spacecraft to visit Mir, it used the Progress-M
11F615A55 configuration, and had the serial number
208. It carried supplies including food, water and oxygen for the EO-8 crew aboard Mir, as well as equipment for conducting scientific research, and fuel for adjusting the station's orbit and performing manoeuvres. It also carried the second VBK-Raduga
capsule, intended to return equipment and experiment results to Earth.
Progress M-7 was launched at 13:05:15 GMT on 19 March 1991, atop a Soyuz-U2
carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5
at the Baikonur Cosmodrome
. It took three attempts to dock with Mir; the first of which occurred at 14:28 GMT on 21 March, and resulted in Progress M-7 approaching to within 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) of Mir, before the attempt was aborted. During a second attempt on 23 March, approach was aborted when the spacecraft was 50 metres (164 ft) from Mir, however it passed within 5 metres (16.4 ft) before moving away to a holding position whilst the problem was investigated. The first two attempts had used the aft docking port of the Kvant-1
module, however it was decided to use the forward port of the core module
for the next one. At 10:12:00 GMT on 26 March, the Soyuz TM-11
spacecraft which had been occupying this port undocked from it, before flying around the station and docking with Kvant-1 at 10:58:59. Progress M-7 successfully docked with Mir at 12:02:28 GMT on 28 March.
During the 39 days for which Progress M-7 was docked, Mir was in an orbit of around 365 by, inclined
at 51.6 degrees. Progress M-7 undocked from Mir at 22:59:36 GMT on 6 May, and was deorbited at 16:24:00 the next day, to a destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean
. Its Raduga capsule, which had been deployed following the deorbit burn, came down in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
at around 17:20 GMT, however efforts to recover it were unsuccessful.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
unmanned cargo spacecraft which was launched in 1991 to resupply the Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
space station. The twenty-fifth of sixty four Progress spacecraft to visit Mir, it used the Progress-M
Progress-M
Progress-M , also known as Progress 7K-TGM, is a Russian, previously Soviet spacecraft which is used to resupply space stations. It is a variant of the Progress spacecraft, originally built in the late 1980s as a modernised version of the Progress 7K-TG spacecraft, using new systems developed for...
11F615A55 configuration, and had the serial number
Serial number
A serial number is a unique number assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value...
208. It carried supplies including food, water and oxygen for the EO-8 crew aboard Mir, as well as equipment for conducting scientific research, and fuel for adjusting the station's orbit and performing manoeuvres. It also carried the second VBK-Raduga
VBK-Raduga
The VBK-Raduga capsule is a reentry capsule that was used for returning materials to Earth's surface from the space station Mir. They were brought to Mir in the Progress-M cargo craft's dry cargo compartment...
capsule, intended to return equipment and experiment results to Earth.
Progress M-7 was launched at 13:05:15 GMT on 19 March 1991, atop a Soyuz-U2
Soyuz-U2
The Soyuz-U2 was a Soviet, later Russian, carrier rocket. It was derived from the Soyuz-U, and a member of the R-7 family of rockets...
carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5
Gagarin's Start
Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency....
at the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
. It took three attempts to dock with Mir; the first of which occurred at 14:28 GMT on 21 March, and resulted in Progress M-7 approaching to within 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) of Mir, before the attempt was aborted. During a second attempt on 23 March, approach was aborted when the spacecraft was 50 metres (164 ft) from Mir, however it passed within 5 metres (16.4 ft) before moving away to a holding position whilst the problem was investigated. The first two attempts had used the aft docking port of the Kvant-1
Kvant-1
Kvant-1 was the second module of the Soviet space station Mir. It was the first addition to the Mir base block and contained scientific instruments for astrophysical observations and materials science experiments....
module, however it was decided to use the forward port of the core module
Mir Core Module
Mir , DOS-7, was the first module of the Soviet/Russian Mir space station complex, in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001. Generally referred to as either the core module or base block, the module was launched on 20 February 1986 on a Proton-K rocket from LC-200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome...
for the next one. At 10:12:00 GMT on 26 March, the Soyuz TM-11
Soyuz TM-11
-Mission highlights:Soyuz TM-11 was launched the same day as STS-35.11th expedition to Mir. Toyohiro Akiyama was a reporter/space tourist for a Japanese television network....
spacecraft which had been occupying this port undocked from it, before flying around the station and docking with Kvant-1 at 10:58:59. Progress M-7 successfully docked with Mir at 12:02:28 GMT on 28 March.
During the 39 days for which Progress M-7 was docked, Mir was in an orbit of around 365 by, inclined
Inclination
Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...
at 51.6 degrees. Progress M-7 undocked from Mir at 22:59:36 GMT on 6 May, and was deorbited at 16:24:00 the next day, to a destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Its Raduga capsule, which had been deployed following the deorbit burn, came down in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
at around 17:20 GMT, however efforts to recover it were unsuccessful.