NASA to broadcast Progress 48 resupply ship departure

Last August, Russia sent a cargo resupply ship into space to dock with the International Space Station. The cargo resupply ship is called the ISS Progress 48 and docked with the Russian segment of the space station. NASA has announced that it will broadcast the departure of Progress 48 on NASA TV.

The Progress 48 resupply ship is set to depart the Pirs docking compartment, which is part of the Russian segment of the ISS, on Saturday, February 9. NASA says that the resupply ship will leave orbit three hours later and burn up above the Pacific Ocean during reentry. While NASA doesn't mention if there will be any cargo aboard the Progress 48, typically astronauts aboard the space station put trash inside the empty cargo ships.

NASA says that removing and destroying the Progress 48 resupply ship is in preparation for Progress 50 to dock with the ISS later this month. The launch and docking for Progress 50 will also be broadcast via NASA TV. Progress 50 is scheduled to launch at 9:41 AM on Monday, February 11 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Progress 50 has roughly 3 tons of food, fuel, supplies, and experiment hardware on board to support the six-member crew. The new resupply ship will launch in an accelerated four-orbit rendezvous with the space station. If all goes well the Progress 50 will dock with the space station only six hours after launch.

[via NASA]