MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/. The Progress MS-20 space freighter, launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Thursday morning, will dock on Saturday at the International Space Station (ISS).
It is scheduled to dock with the Zvezda module of the ISS Russian segment at about 11:47 a.m. Moscow time. The freighter is expected to stay with the station for six months.
Progress MS-22 will carry more than 2,500 kg of cargo to the ISS, including 720 kg of refueling fuel, 420 kg of water, 40 kg of nitrogen, and about 1,354 kg of dry cargo: various equipment and materials, including those for experiments.
In the framework of the partnership between Roscosmos and TASS a special ‘passenger’ went to the ISS - the agency's space mascot toy Inotasya, the design and name of which was chosen by TASS. Inotasya flew into orbit to support special correspondent of the agency, Roscosmos cosmonaut Dmitry Petelin, whose mission was extended due to depressurization in the thermoregulation system of the Soyuz MS-22. Other cosmonauts of Roscosmos - Sergey Prokopyev and Anna Kikina - will remain on the station as well.
There is also food for the cosmonauts aboard Progress MS-22. As the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences previously told TASS, the station will also receive borscht with smoked meat, pumpkin and cheese soup puree, lamb, pork, chicken with white sauce, sturgeon, zander and carp, vegetable tokana, as well as various juices, kissels, tea, coffee, cocoa and milk. The crew members will also receive dried fruit and nuts, cookies and fruit desserts. Petelin earlier reported that Russian crew members also hoped to receive surprises and gifts from relatives.
The Progress MS is a Russian unmanned spacecraft that was created specifically for servicing orbital stations. It is used to deliver various cargoes (fuel, scientific equipment, oxygen, water, food, etc.) to the ISS, as well as to perform orbit adjustment maneuvers.