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Russian Cargo Ship Docks At ISS On Second Try

Posted by Soulskill on from the not-free-after-thirty-minutes dept.

FleaPlus writes "Following up on a story from a few days ago about an unmanned Russian cargo ship's initial aborted attempt at docking with the International Space Station, Space.com reports that the vehicle made a second pass on July 4, which succeeded. Russian engineers believe the initial abort was triggered when the (normally reliable) Progress spacecraft detected interference between a remote control system on the ISS and Progress's camera. It successfully docked on the second try by using the autonomous system instead."

10 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Seems a little funny... by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It successfully docked on the second try by using the autonomous system instead.

    Why didn't they use the automated system in the first place? As a programmer I'd be a little pissed if I spent a lot of time working on a system as complicated as docking a shuttle, only to find out its second string to human piloting. Maybe it should be if the automated system fails, THEN try it with human interaction.

    1. Re:Seems a little funny... by adolf · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Why didn't they use the automated system in the first place? As a programmer I'd be a little pissed if I spent a lot of time working on a system as complicated as docking a shuttle, only to find out its second string to human piloting. Maybe it should be if the automated system fails, THEN try it with human interaction.

      Why should they use the automated system in the first place? As an astronaut I'd be a little pissed if I spent my entire life working toward living on the space station and learning the intricacies of operating these sorts of crafts, only to find that my life's work is second string to a fucking computer. Maybe if human piloting fails, THEN try it with the automated systems.

      --
      Kid-proof tablet..
    2. Re:Seems a little funny... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you read the first article you'd know that they tried the automated system the first time but it couldn't hold a targeting lock on the ISS and they decided to abort the attempt.

      READING: It Teaches you Stuff!

    3. Re:Seems a little funny... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why should they use the automated system in the first place? As an astronaut I'd be a little pissed if I spent my entire life working toward living on the space station and learning the intricacies of operating these sorts of crafts, only to find that my life's work is second string to a fucking computer. Maybe if human piloting fails, THEN try it with the automated systems.

      Why should they use some ego driven head case in the first place? As a taxpayer I'd be a little pissed if I spent my entire life supporting the organization that created the space station and hoping for advanced knowledge to make my child's life better, only to find that my life's work is second string to a fucking pilot who needs his ego stroked even though the mathematicians and programmers on the ground already solved the problem. Maybe automated systems fail, THEN try it with the dickhead.

  2. Re:Humans in the loop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Explain to me why we need people in space again.

    Seriously? Maybe we don't need people in space, but there are people who want to go.

    What are you going to say? Sure you can parachute out of planes, dive to the bottom of the ocean, climb Mt. Everest, but you can't go into space because it's too dangerous?

  3. Idiotic media coverage of a non-event by damburger · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Progress, like any spacecraft, is a complex system. Things won't always go to plan - that said it has, like a lot of the old Russian hardware, a decent track record. This isn't the first time one has gone a but funky, but it is very far from the first time one has been sent up to a space station.

    These things have been supplying stations in LEO since 1978, but to hear the media tell it this is a flaky, experimental piece of equipment just waiting to go wrong, and the failure of just a single docking attempt might put the whole ISS program in danger.

    --
    If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
    1. Re:Idiotic media coverage of a non-event by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Interesting

      These things have been supplying stations in LEO since 1978, but to hear the media tell it this is a flaky, experimental piece of equipment just waiting to go wrong, and the failure of just a single docking attempt might put the whole ISS program in danger.

      The Space Shuttle has been flying since 1982 - but according to the media it's a flaky experimental piece of equipment just waiting to go wrong.
       
      And you might ask the crew of Mir what a single docking attempt can result in.
       

      Progress, like any spacecraft, is a complex system. Things won't always go to plan - that said it has, like a lot of the old Russian hardware, a decent track record.

      It has pretty much the same track record as Soyuz and the Shuttle at about 98-99% reliable.

  4. Re:Humans in the loop by Trent+Hawkins · · Score: 3, Funny

    Aren't those Robots remote controlled? Also, the Robots in Russia have unanimously agreed that nuking the oil pipe is the best option.

  5. Re:Humans in the loop by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Interesting

    wow.. shame no-one actually answered your question..

    Short answer:

    http://quantumg.blogspot.com/2010/07/jeff-greason-answers-why-humans-in.html

    Longer answer:

    http://quantumg.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-space.html

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  6. Re:Humans in the loop by selven · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Explain to me why we need people in space again.

    Because there are 6.7 billion people on a planet which can only sustain 4-5 billion, and we need to be practicing now if we want to be prepared for when we have to expand to new real estate.