Successful Docking Gives Mir A Breather

A Russian cargo ship ferrying crucial supplies achieved a problemfree docking with Mir on Wednesday, bolstering Russian Mission Control as it tries to put the space station’s past troubles behind it.

The unmanned Progress M-36, carrying a back-up computer, docked on automatic pilot a few minutes ahead of schedule, said flight control chief Vladimir Solovyov.

It was the first successful docking using a new procedure that had failed on two past attempts.

“After each failure we analyzed the math … and adjusted the docking procedure,” said Solovyov, briefing reporters at Mission Control. He called Wednesday night’s docking “very clean.”

The crew planned to wait until today to open the hatch, Solovyov said.

The cargo ship docked using a new type of antenna that use less energy. The procedure had been tried twice before on space capsules bringing cosmonauts to the Mir.

The docking had originally been planned for Tuesday, but was delayed because an old supply ship filled with garbage occupied the docking port and failed to detach on command Monday.