Comments on: I'm afraid I can't do that.

I'm afraid I can't do that.

furiousxgeorge — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:40:48 -0800

The ISS Progress 38 cargo carrier was launched to bring supplies to the International Space Station. The unmanned Russian vessel has experienced problems attempting to dock with the station and has now disappeared from view, spinning uncontrollably.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:42:48 -0800

I hate it when that happens.

By: thecjm

thecjm — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:46:48 -0800

Nothing yet on what kind of supplies this vehicle was carrying? Needed oxygen and food? How quickly can they send up another supply vehicle?

By: yoyoceramic

yoyoceramic — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:47:41 -0800

In Soviet Russia, station docks you.

By: eriko

eriko — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:47:44 -0800

Wow. The utterly critical questions now: What orbit is it in, and do they have any control over it? The latter is unlikely, since it's spinning out of control, but they'll need to get the orbital parameters fast, because it's going to be in a similar orbit, and it might just come back to them -- uncontrollably. Question #2 is supply levels. I'm presuming that they're not in drastic need, but if this supply craft is lost, they're going to need to get the next one on orbit reasonably quickly, or they'll have to decrew the ISS.

By: saulgoodman

saulgoodman — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:49:13 -0800

am I right in construing this as very bad news indeed for the crew left still aboard the space station? among other supplies, the cargo carrier was bringing oxygen, food and water.

By: furiousxgeorge

furiousxgeorge — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:49:34 -0800

the unmanned Progress spaceship is loaded with 1,918 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen and air, 220 pounds of water and 2,667 pounds of equipment, spare parts and experiment hardware. No idea how drastic the need for this stuff is, but I assume they plan for this contingency.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:49:44 -0800

The utterly critical questions now: What orbit is it in, and do they have any control over it? Those were my first thoughts. Whoo-boy, I hope it poses no physical danger to the ISS and cosmonauts/astronauts.

By: Debaser626

Debaser626 — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:50:24 -0800

Any word on where it may land?

By: eriko

eriko — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:50:25 -0800

@NASA, on twitter, is reporting: "The ISS crew is going about its usual activities now, and both the station and the Progress spacecraft and space station are safe."

By: furiousxgeorge

furiousxgeorge — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:52:21 -0800

Any word on where it may land? I'm gonna guess it will orbit a couple times, pick up some deadly space radiation or disease, and plummet into the Gulf of Mexico.

By: eriko

eriko — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:58:44 -0800

It appears that the Progress Spacecraft's automatic docking system lost the link to the Zvezsda module, aborting the landing. The Progress wasn't actually in the exact same orbit, so when the link dropped, the Progress flew by safely, and is now ahead of the ISS and opening the range. ETA to the next attempt, if it's safe, is about 48 hours. Unknown: Why the link was lost, and if it'll be safe to retry the docking. The Russian controller are working that problem now.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:59:06 -0800

Video of the incident.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:59:39 -0800

Thinking about how irksome it is when the grocery store's been out of one of my items for a number of weeks. These guys must be pissed.

By: monospace

monospace — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:07:49 -0800

Ayup. Retribution for uncovering that red hot spy.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:09:53 -0800

I assume that once the cargo carrier settles into an orbit that we could send up a Space Shuutle, tether it (using the 'Canada' extendible arm and/or with space walks) and place it in the cargo bay (if the payload can fit (18 by 4.6 m, or 60 by 15 ft). Is this possible? Feasible?

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:10:49 -0800

*Shuttle*

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:13:32 -0800

Hmmm:

"If the Russians can't regain control of the supply ship, it will eventually burn up in the Earth's atmosphere."

By: LD Feral

LD Feral — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:15:05 -0800

Hey, GuyZero, unless the Gregorians were lying to us about the reform, that footage is hopelessly backdated. The hairstyles alone show it to be a dramatic re-creation. If they only let me bring 100ml shampoo bottles on an aircraft, ain't no way they gonna get that 'helmet hair' effect without at least a gallon of brill creme and a couple aerosols of perma-crete hair fixer. I can just see the space marshall, shaking his head sadly, as he disposes of 50$ in hair product. And then Martin Landau cries a single manly tear, before bravely boarding the space vessel, sans cranial protection.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:19:53 -0800

"Russian flight controllers are troubleshooting the loss of telemetry 25 minutes prior to docking. It is not yet clear when - or if - another docking attempt can be made." *

By: Cranberry

Cranberry — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:23:57 -0800

US citizens at the mercy of Russian technology? Perhaps the shuttle program should be replaced instead of canceled.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:27:43 -0800

Skynet is testing us.

By: jtron

jtron — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:46:53 -0800

oh man my fingers are totally crossed so hard right now, in approved cosmic socialist fashion

By: Chinese Jet Pilot

Chinese Jet Pilot — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:18:14 -0800

This isn't the first trouble with docking a Progress supply ship to a space station. In 1997, Progress 234 actually collided with Russia's space station Mir.

By: A189Nut

A189Nut — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:29:18 -0800

All will be fine. The Russians systems are at least mature technology...

By: markkraft

markkraft — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:37:01 -0800

I'm sure that Major Tom will guide his craft to a successful docking. I think his spaceship knows which way to go.

By: davejay

davejay — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:59:16 -0800

Makes you wonder how many space-fairing vehicles have gone hurtling out into the void (rather than blowing or burning up) over the years we've been out in space, doesn't it? I like the idea that, in the 50s, someone sent a rocket up that completely missed its marks, and went hurtling out into such a large orbit that we can't find it -- and about one hundred and fifty years from now, it'll come back around, and initially be mistaken for an alien craft until people figure out WTF.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:14:35 -0800

No idea how drastic the need for this stuff is, but I assume they plan for this contingency. Yeah, you would have thought that about deepwater oil drilling too.

By: saulgoodman

saulgoodman — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:18:54 -0800

Let's just hope the powers that be did plan adequately for this contingency, and this isn't going to end up turning into some earth-orbital horror-show redux of the Donner party. (Although that might make for a really cool film project.)

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:32:23 -0800

why does this feel like the first reel of SPACE CANNIBALS?

By: panboi

panboi — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:57:53 -0800

"HAVE YOU SEEN MY SPACESHIP? ANSWERS TO THE NAME OF 'MR MITTENS'. FRIENDLY AND APPROACHABLE. LIKES BALLS OF STRING AND SPINNING UNCONTROLLABLY. REWARD IF FOUND. CALL NUMBER BELOW....."

By: Twang

Twang — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:21:01 -0800

I've done everything as you say I've followed your rules without question I thought it would help me see things clearly But instead of helping me to see I look around and it's like I'm blinded I'm spinning out of control Out of control I'm spinning out of control Out of control

By: hattifattener

hattifattener — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:28:42 -0800

saulgoodman, et al: they keep a Soyuz module at the ISS at all times so the crew can leave if something does go wrong.

By: Twang

Twang — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:38:42 -0800

@davejay I like the idea that, in the 50s, someone sent a rocket up that completely missed its marks, and went hurtling out into such a large orbit that we can't find it The earliest one's I found are Luna 1 (1959), Pioneer 4 (1959) and 1962's Ranger 3 ... it missed the Moon by 22,000 miles ... which always reminds me of the line "can't hit the broad side of a barn!" Anyway, they're ... out there ... thataway.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:17:58 -0800

What orbit is it in, and do they have any control over it? Depends on its acceleration. I don't think anyone's released how fast it went by the ISS. As to whether or not they have control over it, from link:

But Russian space agency deputy head Vitaly Davydov later said the ship was not out of control. "The Progress ship and the international space station are in working order and reliable communication with them is being maintained," Davydov said on state-run Rossiya-24 television.

So, uh, make of that what you will. I hope it poses no physical danger to the ISS and cosmonauts/astronauts. Apparently it sailed by with a couple of miles buffer.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:21:13 -0800

Also, not really related, but Cosmodrome is the fucking bad-ass-est word for "rocket launch area" that I think all nations and languages should adopt it. TWO COSMONAUTS ENTER! ONE COSMONAUT LEAVE!

By: sonascope

sonascope — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:51:26 -0800

Hiccups and issues notwithstanding, I'm a total nut for the Soviet and post-Soviet Soyuz program (which Progress is derived from). We killed our own perfectly reasonable human spaceflight program in mid-sentence, leaving the mission-ready Apollo 18 to rot on the lawns of our crappy space centers. Then, we came up with the cockamamie, and it is a truly, luxuriously cockamamie piece of overblown, uncontrollable junk, Space Shuttle, a pseudo-reusable committee-think project manipulated by the military and lowest-bidder economics into a complete and total mess. Meanwhile, the Rooskies built the Soyuz, which is about as simple and bulletproof as a tractor, and about as nice to look at (you've got to be a fan to love the insectile charms of the thing), and has chugged along, with few incidents, for decade after decade—being improved, upgraded, and tweaked with each new generation. There's a lot of life and flexibility in those old dogs. So I think they'll work it out. Sometimes things just don't do what they're supposed to. You know what's nuts, though? When the Shuttle shuffles off the scene this fall, you know what country will have the largest and most active spaceport for human flight? Kazakhstan. Seriously. That Kazakhstan. Ah, sweet Soyuz, my faithful friend...wait, what were we talking about, again? P.S. If you're a space nerd or aspire to be one, the Encyclopedia Astronautica is a great big time-sucking slice of highly-detailed heaven.

By: localroger

localroger — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:55:47 -0800

LD Feral, I can only assume you have never seen the documentary Barbarella. In the future big hair technology will be pervasive. We are still catching up.

By: intermod

intermod — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:16:40 -0800

My head spins thinking about answering / correcting all of the above, so I'll just punt and post this: From www.nasa.gov/station: "Russian and US ISS program managers will meet the morning of Saturday, July 3 to assess the next docking opportunity, preliminarily identified as approximately 4:17 PM GMT on Sunday, July 4. The Progress will conduct two engine firings tonight and another tomorrow to be in position for the potential docking Sunday."

By: Joakim Ziegler

Joakim Ziegler — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:45:01 -0800

Civil_Disobedient: "Also, not really related, but Cosmodrome is the fucking bad-ass-est word for "rocket launch area" that I think all nations and languages should adopt it. TWO COSMONAUTS ENTER! ONE COSMONAUT LEAVE!" And then James Woods pulls a raygun out of the vagina in his chest.

By: adamd1

adamd1 — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:47:37 -0800

Update: Resupply Craft Go For Sunday Docking . They'll try again tomorrow at 12:10pm EDT. (NASA coverage begins at 11:30am) ad

By: LoveAndBottleRockets

LoveAndBottleRockets — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:31:36 -0800

adamd1: "Update: Resupply Craft Go For Sunday Docking . They'll try again tomorrow at 12:10pm EDT. (NASA coverage begins at 11:30am)" Cool! Ima be watchin' that! Thanks for posting that.

By: intermod

intermod — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:40:48 -0800

The Progress docked normally this afternoon. You can watch / download the video of the docking here: http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6072 This is the raw NASA TV coverage, about an hour in length. The commentator will give you lots* of information about what's going on. When they show the video view from the Progress spaceship, the screen with all the numbers on it, look for the lowercase "p" in the lower right quadrant of the screen. That's actually a Greek rho character, and represents distance in meters. First time they show it, it's at 7000 meters range. Below that is "rho dot", a "p" with a dot above it, that represents the rate of change of rho, or the approach rate in meters per second. * it's Rob Navias, he looooves the sound of his voice

By: PROD_TPSL

PROD_TPSL — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:42:34 -0800

I'm ecstatic that all went well with this second docking attempt. Low Earth Orbit is not a place that one wishes to experience "drama". From my initial readings... it looks like the autonomous docking systems did the trick this time. I wonder what the post-mortem will show...