A Roscosmos cargo spacecraft successfully delivered food, fuel, and other essential supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday.
The arrival comes as two NASA astronauts, stranded aboard the station, await a safe return to Earth amid ongoing safety concerns over the Boeing Starliner capsule.
The unpiloted Progress 89 spacecraft docked at the Russian Zvezda Service module’s port at precisely 5:53 GMT, NASA confirmed. The spacecraft was launched on Wednesday, August 14, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, riding atop a Soyuz rocket.
The delivery, which amounts to nearly three tons of supplies, is crucial for the Expedition 71 crew currently aboard the ISS. Among the recipients are NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who have been unable to return to Earth due to unresolved issues with the Starliner spacecraft.
The astronauts originally arrived at the ISS in June for what was supposed to be a brief eight-day test mission. However, complications with Starliner’s propulsion system have led to the indefinite extension of their stay.
NASA officials have indicated that if the Starliner capsule remains unsafe, Wilmore and Williams may return on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, potentially delaying their return until February 2025.
The Roscosmos spacecraft will stay docked at the ISS for approximately six months, serving as a temporary storage facility for waste before it departs and re-enters Earth's atmosphere, where it will burn up during re-entry.
This development underscores the challenges faced by international space agencies in ensuring the safety and reliability of crewed space missions. The ongoing issues with the Starliner capsule have raised significant concerns within NASA and have placed additional pressure on Boeing to address the technical problems that have plagued the spacecraft.
