OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE<br />about the docking of Progress M-48<br />to the International Space Station<br /><br /><br />August 31, 2003. Korolev, Moscow Area<br /><br />The Russian cargo transport vehicle Progress M-48 launched from Baikonur<br />cosmodrome on August 29, 2003 following a two-day free flight in near-earth<br />orbit today docked to the International Space Station (ISS).<br />The vehicle approached the free axial docking port of Service Module Zvezda<br />of the ISS. The docking port was contacted at 07:40:45 Moscow summer time.<br />The vehicle rendezvous with the Space Station, its fly-around and docking<br />were performed in the automatic mode. In the final phase of the vehicle<br />rendezvous with the station during its fly-around and berthing the vehicle<br />and station were in the Russian ground site coverage.<br />The ISS Expedition Seven Crew (ISS-7) - namely Russian cosmonaut Yury<br />Malenchenko (Commander, instructor/test cosmonaut of Yu.A. Gagarin CTC<br />RGNII), and astronaut Edward Lu (Flight engineer, NASA), working both aboard<br />the station - monitored performance of the rendezvous and docking processes.<br />The vehicle delivered more than 2.5 tons of various cargoes including 353 kg<br />of propellant for the Station in the refueling system tanks, more than 320<br />kg of various cargoes for the ISS US On-orbit Segment.<br />The ISS-7 crew will have to unload the vehicle and accommodate the delivered<br />cargoes on the Station, and load the wasted materials and equipment to the<br />vehicle.<br />The on-orbit complex ISS of about 187.4 tons consists of Functional Cargo<br />Module Zarya, Service Module Zvezda, docking module Pirs, cargo vehicles<br />Progress M-48 and Progress M1-10, manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-2, as well as<br />U.S. modules Unity and Destiny, and airlock Quest.<br />The ISS performs a near-orbit flight with the following parameters: maximum<br />altitude of 399.8 km, minimum altitude of 378.3 km, period of revolution of<br />92.1 min.<br />The vehicles and Station modules onboard systems operate in a design mode.<br />The ISS flight is under control of the Lead Operational Control Team (LOCT)<br />of the Mission Control Center in Moscow (MCC-M), Korolev, Moscow area in<br />interaction with the US Mission Control Center in Houston (MCC-H). The<br />Flight is directed by pilot-cosmonaut V.A. Soloviev, RSC Energia.<br />During the cargo vehicle docking to the ISS the MCC-M was attended by<br />co-chairmen of the State Board: N.F. Moiseev (State Secretary, First Deputy<br />General Director of Rosaviakosmos), V.A. Grin' (Deputy General Director of<br />TsNIIMash), Yu.P. Semenov, Technical Manager of Russian Piloted Space<br />Programs (General Designer of S.P. Korolev RSC Energia), representatives and<br />specialists from Rosaviakosmos, NASA, and allied space organizations, which<br />took part in the manufacture, prelaunch processing and launch of<br />ProgressM-48 and control of the Russian Segment of the Station.<br />Upon completion of the docking mode V.A. Soloviev, Flight Director answered<br />the questions of journalists of the Russian and foreign information agencies<br />and TV companies present at MCC-M.