MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. A Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Progress MS-27 resupply ship has been installed on a launch pad of the Baikonur spaceport for flight to the International Space Station (ISS), Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos said on Monday.
"Today a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Progress MS-27 space freighter has been transported to the launch pad of Site No. 31 of the Baikonur cosmodrome. After placing the rocket in the vertical position on the launch pad, Roscosmos specialists continued preparing it for launch," the Roscosmos press office said in a statement.
The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket is set to blast off from the Baikonur space center at 12:43 p.m. Moscow time (9:43 a.m. GMT) on May 30 to deliver the Progress MS-27 cargo ship into orbit. The resupply ship’s docking with the ISS is scheduled for June 1.
The resupply ship will deliver 2,504 kg of cargo to the ISS, in particular, 1,290 kg of apparatus and equipment for the station’s systems, stowage for scientific experiments, clothing, food, medical and hygienic sets for the crew of the 71st long-term expedition, 754 kg of refueling propellant, 420 kg of potable water for cosmonauts and 40 kg of nitrogen to replenish the ISS atmosphere.
The Progress MS-27 resupply ship will also deliver a T-shirt to the ISS as a gift for the birthday of Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, the Russian crew psychological support service said.
"At the request of his family, a special T-shirt has been prepared for Alexander Grebenkin for his birthday with a print of his adult and child photos and the signature: 'From a Dream to Stars,'" the psychological service said.
Cosmonaut Grebenkin will celebrate his 42nd birthday aboard the orbital outpost on July 15.