Russia Extends Probe Into February Failure Of Progress MS-16 Automated Docking To ISS

SAMARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2021) Russia has indefinitely extended the work of the commission in charge of investigating causes of a malfunction that occurred during the docking of the Progress MS-16 cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) in February, as a result of which the docking had to be done manually, a Roscosmos subsidiary said on Friday.

In February, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov performed the manual docking of the spacecraft because the Progress MS-16 deviated too much from the intended trajectory.

"The commission's work is not finished, the time frame is unknown," Dmitry Baranov, the Progress Rocket Space Center CEO, said.

In April, Baranov said that the commission will work until April 30, noting that the incident was caused by a malfunction in the rocket fairing of the Soyuz launch vehicle.

Progress cargo ships deliver fuel, oxygen and water to the ISS crew. Since 1978, there have been 168 Progress spacecraft launches, three of them failed to reach the station due to issues with launch vehicles.