Progress M-24 (russian: Прогресс М-24, italic=yes) was a Russian uncrewed cargo spacecraft which was launched in 1994 to resupply the
Mir
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
space station;
causing minor damage to the station as the result of a collision during a failed attempt to dock.
Spacecraft
The forty-second of sixty four
Progress
Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...
spacecraft to visit Mir, M-24 used the
Progress-M 11F615A55 configuration,
and had the
serial number 224.
It carried supplies including food, water and oxygen for the
EO-16 crew aboard Mir, as well as equipment for conducting scientific research, and fuel for adjusting the station's orbit and performing manoeuvres. Amongst its cargo were two new
spacesuits, three
fire extinguisher
A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...
s,
oxygen candles, and equipment to facilitate repairs to Mir's
life support system.
Flight
Progress M-24 was launched at 14:25:12 UTC on 25 August 1994, atop a
Soyuz-U
The Soyuz-U launch vehicle was an improved version of the original Soyuz rocket. Soyuz-U was part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile. Members of this rocket family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and cons ...
carrier rocket flying from
Site 1/5 at the
Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Following two days of free flight, it approached the forward port of Mir's
core module on 27 August, however an attempt to dock with the station failed. A second attempt was made on 30 August, however this also failed, with the Progress colliding with the space station. Following these failures of the automated docking system, a manual docking using
TORU TORU or Toru may refer to:
* TORU, spacecraft system
* Toru (given name), Japanese male given name
* Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
*Tõru
Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western ...
, under the control of cosmonaut
Yuri Malenchenko, was performed at 13:30:28 on 2 September.
Progress M-24 undocked from Mir at 18:55:52 UTC on 4 October 1994, manoeuvring away from the station and beginning a deorbit burn at 21:44.
The spacecraft was destroyed during
reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the ...
over the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
at 22:43:00.
See also
*
1994 in spaceflight
*
List of Progress flights
*
List of uncrewed spaceflights to Mir
This is a list of uncrewed spaceflights to Mir. Components of the space station are indicated in green.
*A. - Time from docking until debris impact in the Pacific Ocean at approximately 05:59 GMT on 23 March 2001.
*B. - From time of launch
*C. ...
*
Progress M-34
Progress M-34 (russian: Прогресс М-34, italic=yes) was a Russian uncrewed cargo spacecraft which was launched in 1997 to resupply the Mir space station, and which subsequently collided with Mir during a docking attempt, resulting in signi ...
References
{{Progress spacecraft
Spacecraft launched in 1994
Progress (spacecraft) missions
Spacecraft which reentered in 1994