Progress M-04M (), identified by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

as Progress 36P, was a Russian

Progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...

spacecraft launched in February 2010 to resupply the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

. It was docked with the aft port of the '' Zvezda'' module of the station.

Launch

Progress M-04M was launched by a

Soyuz-U Soyuz-U ( GRAU index: 11A511U) was a Soviet and later Russian expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress factory in Samara, Russia. The ''U'' designation stands for ''unified' ...

carrier rocket, flying from Site 1/5 at the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

. The launch occurred at 03:45 UTC on 3 February 2010.

Docking

After just over three days of free flight, Progress M-04M docked with the ''Zvezda'' module of the International Space Station at 04:26 UTC on 5 February 2010. Its docking marked the first time four Russian spacecraft had been docked to the station at the same time, joining the

Soyuz TMA-16 The Soyuz TMA-16 () was a crewed flight to and from the International Space Station (ISS). It transported two members of the Expedition 21 crew and a Canadian entrepreneur from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS. TMA-16 was the 103r ...

Soyuz TMA-17 Soyuz TMA-17 was a human spaceflight mission to the International Space Station (ISS). TMA-17 crew members participated in ISS Expedition 22 and Expedition 23. The mission ended when the Soyuz TMA-17 capsule landed on 2 June 2010. Crew C ...

and

Progress M-03M Progress M-03M (), identified by NASA as Progress 35P, was a Progress spacecraft used by the Russian Federal Space Agency to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). Launch Progress M-03M launched on a Soyuz-U carrier rocket, flying from ...

spacecraft already docked. It remained docked until 10 May 2010, when it departed, allowing

to be moved to the Zvezda aft port to clear the way for the arrival of the '' Rassvet'' module, to be delivered by

Space Shuttle Atlantis Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' (Orbiter Vehicle designation: OV‑104) is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. ''Atlantis'' was manufactured by the Rockw ...

STS-132 STS-132 ( ISS assembly flight ULF4) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission, during which Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' docked with the International Space Station on May 16, 2010. STS-132 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on May 14, 2010. The pri ...

later that month.

Cargo

The Progress M-04M spacecraft delivered of cargo to the ISS. This included water to be used by systems in the Russian segment of the station, propellant to refuel the station and to perform orbital manoeuvres, food and medical supplies.

Undocking

Progress M-04M undocked from the ISS on 10 May 2010. On 7 May 2010, Russian Space Agency's Mission Control announced that the ISS crew had loaded Progress M-04M with garbage and readied the spacecraft for undocking. The command for undocking was issued at 11:13 UTC, and three minutes later Progress M-04M separated from the Zvezda module. Cosmonauts Aleksandr Skvortsov and

Mikhail Kornienko Mikhail Borisovich Kornienko (Михаил Борисович Корниенко; born 15 April 1960) is a Russian cosmonaut who has undertaken multiple missions to the International Space Station (ISS). He first served as a flight engineer duri ...

monitored the undocking with photo and video cameras focusing on the Progress docking mechanism to confirm that there were no missing or damaged

O-ring An O-ring, also known as a packing or a toric joint, is a mechanical gasket in the shape of a torus; it is a loop of elastomer with a round cross section (geometry), cross-section, designed to be seated in a groove and compressed during assembl ...

seals on the docking interface.

Deorbited

The spacecraft stayed in autonomous flight for 60 days after undocking, taking part in the Reflection geophysical experiment to study reflective characteristics of the freighter's hull and the transparency of the

Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is composed of a layer of gas mixture that surrounds the Earth's planetary surface (both lands and oceans), known collectively as air, with variable quantities of suspended aerosols and particulates (which create weathe ...

. Progress M-04M was deorbited on 1 July 2010 over the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The deorbit burn began at 13:54 UTC and at about 14:40, the remaining parts of the spacecraft which had not burnt during the reentry, fell down in the south area of the Pacific Ocean, 37°47′ South, and 235°09′ West.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Progress M-04m Progress (spacecraft) missions Spacecraft launched in 2010 Spacecraft which reentered in 2010 Supply vehicles for the International Space Station Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-U rockets