New docking system fault meant manual docking for Progress M-021M at International Space Station
2 Dec 2013, 16:51 UTC
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Following its Soyuz-U launch on 25 November, the unmanned PROGRESS M-021M cargo/freighter spacecraft was approaching the International Space Station (ISS) on 30 November 2013 via an automated approach when its new Kurs-NA system apparently failed and the craft fell into a safe stationkeeping mode at 60m distance. ISS Cosmonaut Oleg Kotov took control of the spacecraft using a backup television control TORU systemand docked the Progress with the station’s Zvezda module at 2230 GMT.
