Space

Progress spacecraft set to lift off August 2 - space agency

RIA Novosti

01/08/2007 16:31 MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - The Progress M-61 space cargo ship will deliver August 2 additional equipment to the International Space Station (ISS), which is needed to repair the onboard computer network, the Russian space agency said Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Federal Space Agency said that the launch of the cargo spacecraft, originally scheduled for July 23, was planned for 9:32 p.m. Moscow time (5:32 p.m. GMT) Thursday.

The ISS ran into difficulties when the steering system on the Russian segment was disabled June 12 after six computers crashed, which experts said could have been caused by changes in the ISS configuration after new solar arrays were connected.

The computer glitch was temporarily fixed by the ISS crew using components at hand, but the onboard network requires additional equipment to be fully repaired.

The Progress spacecraft will also deliver to the ISS water and food supplies, and equipment for a Japanese scientific research program conducted on board the orbital station.