Supply ship fails to undock from Mir
October 6, 1997
Web posted at: 9:41 a.m. EDT (1341 GMT)
MOSCOW (CNN) -- The Progress M-35 supply ship failed to
undock from Russia's Mir space station as scheduled Monday,
Russian space officials said.
Another undocking attempt was scheduled for Tuesday.
The undocking procedure is controlled by Russian Mission
Control ground officials. An unnamed spokeswoman told
Reuters that the locks which fasten Progress to Mir had
failed to open. The unmanned cargo ship is due to burn up in
the atmosphere after uncoupling from Mir.
The Progress 35 cargo vessel must be undocked to make room
for the Progress M-36 cargo vehicle, scheduled to dock
Tuesday. That vessel is to bring badly needed supplies to
the Mir, including a second backup motion-control computer.
Russian Mission Control said this is not the first time an
undocking has failed to work on the first try.
Reuters contributed to this report.