spacetoday.net: Progress docking test aborted after glitch

Posted: Wed, Jul 25, 2012, 9:26 PM ET (0126 GMT)
Progress M-15M undocking from ISS (NASA)

A test of a new docking antenna on a Progress spacecraft was aborted last Monday after a malfunction. The Progress M-15M cargo spacecraft, which arrived at the station in April, undocked from the station Sunday and moved out to a distance of over 150 kilometers before returning to the station's facility for a planned redocking to test a new Kurs-NA rendezvous antenna. The docking was aborted, though, when the antenna malfunctioned when the Progress was about 15 kilometers away. The Progress went into a "passive abort trajectory" that kept it a safe distance from the station. Russian officials said they will make another docking attempt on July 29, after the Japanese HTV-3 cargo spacecraft arrives at the station. The Kurs-NA replaces three antennas used by Progress and Soyuz spacecraft with one.