MOSCOW, March 1 (UPI) -- A Russian cargo spacecraft has been launched into orbit successfully and will reach the International Space Station Wednesday, Russian space officials said.
Roskosmos, Russia's space agency, said Tuesday the spacecraft Progress M-52 took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 14:09 EST Monday and settled into orbit nine minutes later. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the space station at 15:15 EST Wednesday, Roskosmos said.
The Progress will deliver about 2.8 tons of food, water and fuel, as well as cameras and lenses that will be used to capture digital images of the thermal protection system on NASA's space shuttle Discovery during anticipated approach to the station for docking in May.
The ISS crew, Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao, will enter Progress a few hours after it docks to unload supplies and the photographic equipment.
