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Mission Control may try to stop rotation of Progress spacecraft tonight

Earlier, the spacecraft's close-up and docking navigation system Kurs and the onboard video camera were switched on

MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/. Mission Control Center near Moscow will make another attempt tonight to establish contact with the cargo spacecraft Progress M-27M and to use a remote control mode of operation in order to stop the spacecraft’s erratic rotation, a source in the space rocket industry has told TASS.

"Experts have now paused attempts to contact the spacecraft. The first communication session is due on Wednesday, at 03:50 Moscow time. It will last about 15-16 minutes. It is not ruled out specialists will use the teleoperated mode of control to stop spacecraft’s rotation, although the chances of success are few, because the direction of rotation remains unclear. As soon as it has been established, teleoperated mode of control will be employed," the source said.

TASS has no official confirmation yet.

Earlier, the close-up and docking navigation system Kurs and the onboard video camera were switched on.

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket with a Progress spacecraft blasted off from the Baikonur space site in Kazakhstan on Tuesday morning. Soon it turned out that telemetry from it was not available and the spacecraft itself had entered an undesignated orbit. A source in the space industry told TASS that without correcting the orbit the spacecraft might be lost.

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