ISS paves the way to welcome new supply ships

Russia's unmanned aerial transport spacecraft on April 15 has separated from the International Space Station (ISS) to start an independent research activity, before ending its Pacific mission on April 21.

"Progress-17M ship has separated from Russia's Zvezda module on ISS at 17:00 pm on April 15 (VN time)," RIA Novosti quoted the statement of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) as saying. .

Russian Progress transport ship - (Photo: NASA)

"Within the next six days, the spacecraft will carry out a series of scientific experiments under the Radar-Progress project , " according to the statement.

RIA Novosti said the project focused on the physical properties of the electromagnetism field around the spacecraft, caused by the ship's propellant liquid fuel engines.

Reportedly, the Progress-17M vessel brought 2.5 tons of cargo to connect with ISS on October 31, 2012. In the past, the engines of Progress-17M were used many times to help adjust the station's trajectory.

The departure of the Zvezda Progress-17M also helped the ISS to clear the way to receive another Russian supply vessel, the Progress M-19M, which is scheduled to leave the launch pad at the Russian Baikonur Space Airport in Kazakhstan on the Soyuz booster. -U on April 24.