Progress Freighter Docks with ISS
KOROLYOV (Moscow region), December 24, 2005 - /Itar-Tass/ - A Progress cargo spaceship has docked with the International Space Station (ISS).
“Progress M-55 successfully docked with the Pirs Russian docking unit at 10:46 p.m. Moscow time,” spokesman for the Russian mission control center Valery Lyndin told Itar-Tass.
He said the freighter delivered about 2.5 tonnes of various cargoes, including food, water, fuel, equipment and New Year presents for crewmembers Valery Tokarev and William McArthur.
Progress M-55 delivered containers with snails, which will spend several months in orbit. “The predecessors, which had tips of their horns or bits of shells removed under anesthesia, have fully restored their initial forms after a four-month flight,” leading researcher from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medical and Biological Problems Givi Gorgiladze said.
Snail shells are exterior skeletons, so the analysis of their regeneration will help scientists to understand the mechanism of calcium metabolism in zero gravity, the researcher said. He said the first snail experiment, which lasted for two months, was testing the influence of zero gravity on the human vestibular system, because the difference between vestibular system of humans and animals is not large.
The crew received traditional Russian and American food rations and 14 kilograms of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Most of the fresh fruit are apples, grapefruits, oranges and lemons, head of the food department at the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems Alexander Agureyev said. In addition, the crewmembers received onions and garlic. Tokarev and McArthur also ordered curds with nuts, canned fish and juices.
The crew will celebrate Christmas and New Year with nuts, chocolate and dried fruit sent by their families. “It is allowed to send only certified food to the orbit, so we did not send anything but dried fruit, nuts and chocolate,” Tokarev’s wife Irina said.
The restrictions were also applied to SantaÂ’s gifts. Instead of glass decorations, Christmas tree balls are made of chocolate and packed into a wooden box shaped as Santa. Tokarev and McArthur will be wearing red caps when they would give a New Year interview to the Russian and western media.
Psychologists also sent gifts to the orbit. “We sent them a New Year calendar and souvenirs packed into two gloves,” the psychologists said. In addition, the freighter delivered disc with the flight engineer’s favorite songs and DVD films.
The third generation of equipment for the Plasma Crystal experiment was sent to the ISS, as well. A new session of the Russian-European experiment of testing the radiation impact on vital human organs, Matryoshka-2, will start in January 2006.
The crew will open the Progress M-55 hatch at about 2:00 a.m. on December 24. They will immediately bring snails to the ISS, as the animals need certain temperatures. Gifts from the families will also be taken to the ISS immediately.
