Progress Freighter Docks with ISS
KOROLYOV (Moscow region), December 24, 2005 - /Itar-Tass/ - A
Progress cargo spaceship has docked with the International Space
Station (ISS).
Progress M-55 successfully docked with the Pirs Russian docking
unit at 10:46 p.m. Moscow time, spokesman for the Russian mission
control center Valery Lyndin told Itar-Tass.
He said the freighter delivered about 2.5 tonnes of various
cargoes, including food, water, fuel, equipment and New Year
presents for crewmembers Valery Tokarev and William McArthur.
Progress M-55 delivered containers with snails, which will spend
several months in orbit. The predecessors, which had tips of their
horns or bits of shells removed under anesthesia, have fully
restored their initial forms after a four-month flight, leading
researcher from the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of
Medical and Biological Problems Givi Gorgiladze said.
Snail shells are exterior skeletons, so the analysis of their
regeneration will help scientists to understand the mechanism of
calcium metabolism in zero gravity, the researcher said. He said
the first snail experiment, which lasted for two months, was
testing the influence of zero gravity on the human vestibular
system, because the difference between vestibular system of humans
and animals is not large.
The crew received traditional Russian and American food rations and
14 kilograms of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Most of the fresh fruit are apples, grapefruits, oranges and
lemons, head of the food department at the Institute of Medical and
Biological Problems Alexander Agureyev said. In addition, the
crewmembers received onions and garlic. Tokarev and McArthur also
ordered curds with nuts, canned fish and juices.
The crew will celebrate Christmas and New Year with nuts, chocolate
and dried fruit sent by their families. It is allowed to send only
certified food to the orbit, so we did not send anything but dried
fruit, nuts and chocolate, Tokarevs wife Irina said.
The restrictions were also applied to Santas gifts. Instead of
glass decorations, Christmas tree balls are made of chocolate and
packed into a wooden box shaped as Santa. Tokarev and McArthur will
be wearing red caps when they would give a New Year interview to
the Russian and western media.
Psychologists also sent gifts to the orbit. We sent them a New
Year calendar and souvenirs packed into two gloves, the
psychologists said. In addition, the freighter delivered disc with
the flight engineers favorite songs and DVD films.
The third generation of equipment for the Plasma Crystal experiment
was sent to the ISS, as well. A new session of the Russian-European
experiment of testing the radiation impact on vital human organs,
Matryoshka-2, will start in January 2006.
The crew will open the Progress M-55 hatch at about 2:00 a.m. on
December 24. They will immediately bring snails to the ISS, as the
animals need certain temperatures. Gifts from the families will
also be taken to the ISS immediately.
