An unmanned Russian supply module appeared not have docked properly with the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday. The problem may lead NASA to delay the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, scheduled for 0041 GMT on Friday.
On arrival at the ISS, the Progress supply ship should have locked into place, creating a seal with the ISS. But Moscow mission control told a Russian news agency: 鈥淭he fixing locks did not snap into place, and the module is thus not entirely hermetically sealed.鈥�
If the connection is not secure, it is feared that the impact of Endeavour鈥檚 docking could damage the ISS. However, NASA has said there is no threat to the station鈥檚 crew.
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NASA officials will meet at 1500 GMT to decide whether to delay Endeavour鈥檚 launch, which will deliver a new crew and supplies. Moscow mission control and the Russian construction company Energia have set up a working group to find a remedy to the docking problem.
Deactivated steering
The Progress M1-7 supply ship was launched on Monday from Kazakstan carrying a tonne of supplies and arrived at the ISS at 1940 GMT on Wednesday. Russian flight controllers in Moscow did not receive confirmation that the module docked correctly.
The ISS鈥檚 steering mechanism remained deactivated for three hours after docking so that Russian mission control could examine the problem. The Russian Space Agency said it has ruled out sending an ISS crewmember on a spacewalk to fix the problem.
This is the first time that a Progress module has experienced this problem, although a Russian Kvant module suffered similar difficulties when docking with space station Mir in 1987.
The Progress class of spacecraft was first built in 1976. These vehicles have made scores of supply trips to the Russian space stations Salyut-6 and Mir before the ISS was constructed.
The vehicle鈥檚 design has undergone a number of upgrades, with the main modification made for ISS missions being to the craft鈥檚 propellant system, allowing more fuel to be delivered.