Progress MS-05 explained

Progress MS-05
Names List:Progress 66P
Mission Type:ISS resupply
Operator:Roscosmos
Cospar Id:2017-010A
Satcat:42056
Mission Duration:148 days
Spacecraft:Progress MS
Spacecraft Type:Progress MS-05 s/n 435
Manufacturer:RKK Energia
Launch Mass:7281 kg
Payload Mass:2640 kg
Launch Date:22 February 2017, 05:58:33 UTC
Launch Site:Baikonur, Site 1/5
Launch Contractor:Progress Rocket Space Centre
Disposal Type:Deorbited
Decay Date:20 July 2017
Orbit Reference:Geocentric orbit
Orbit Regime:Low Earth orbit
Orbit Inclination:51.66°
Apsis:gee
Docking:
Docking Type:dock
Docking Date:24 February 2017, 08:34 UTC
Undocking Date:20 July 2017, 17:46 UTC
Time Docked:146 days
Cargo Mass:2640 kg
Cargo Mass Press:1317 kg
Cargo Mass Fuel:880 kg
Cargo Mass Gas:23 kg
Cargo Mass Water:420 kg
Insignia Size:200px
Programme:Progress ISS Resupply
Previous Mission:Progress MS-04
Next Mission:Progress MS-06

Progress MS-05, identified by NASA as Progress 66P, was a Progress spaceflight operated by Roscosmos to resupply the International Space Station (ISS).

History

The Progress MS is a uncrewed freighter based on the Progress-M featuring improved avionics. This improved variant first launched on 21 December 2015. It had the following improvements:

Pre-launch

The launch of the Progress MS-05 mission was originally planned for 16 October 2016, and by the end of 2016, it was postponed to 21 February 2017, in the wake of the Progress MS-04 accident. The extra time was used to return the third stages of already assembled vehicles to the manufacturing plant for additional inspections of RD-0110 engines, which were suspected in the loss of Progress MS-04. The engine on the third stage of the Soyuz-U vehicle assigned for the Progress MS-05 mission was replaced.

The Soyuz-U rocket for the Progress MS-05 mission and all subsequent launchers carrying Soyuz and Progress spacecraft were retrofitted with onboard cameras capable of transmitting live images during the ascent to orbit. The cameras were installed on the exterior of the intertank compartment of the third stage. The resulting video could help to understand the rocket's behavior during the flight.

The launch of Progress MS-05 was to be ensured for 139.8 million rubles.

Cargo

The Progress MS-06 spacecraft delivered 2,640 kg of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station, including an Orlan-MKS spacesuit. This was a replacement for the suit lost on Progress MS-04. The following is a breakdown of cargo bound for the ISS:

Launch

Progress MS-05 was launched on 22 February 2017 at 05:58:33 UTC from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It used the 786th and last Soyuz-U rocket.

Docking

Progress MS-05 docked with the Pirs module at 08:34 UTC on 24 February 2017. During the automated docking process, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Oleg Novitsky were on stand by at the manual control system, TORU, console inside the Pirs service module to take over docking operations if needed. Progress MS-05 will remain docked at the station for almost four months before departing in June 2017 for its deorbit into Earth's atmosphere.

Undocking and decay

After six months at the International Space Station, the Progress MS-05 cargo ship undocked from the Pirs, on 20 July 2017, at 17:46 UTC. The three-minute braking manoeuvre with the main engine of the cargo ship was scheduled to begin at 20:58 UTC, followed by reentry into the dense atmosphere at 21:32 UTC on 20 July 2017. Surviving debris of the spacecraft were calculated to impact the remote area of the Pacific Ocean at 21:41 UTC on 21 July 2017.