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Supply spacecraft misses space station

HOUSTON, July 2 (UPI) -- An unmanned Russian spacecraft carrying supplies to the International Space Station missed its rendezvous because of a malfunction, officials said.

A "telemetry" failure affected radio contact necessary to complete the docking, NASA said on its Web site Friday

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The "Progress" cargo freighter craft, launched Wednesday, passed the station and the gap between them is widening, NASA said.

Carrying 2.5 tons of supplies, the spacecraft "literally flew past the International Space Station, but at a very safe distance," NASA mission commentator Rob Navias said from the U.S. Mission Control Center in Houston.

Navias said the craft passed at a distance of several kilometers.

Supplies on board the malfunctioning Progress are not considered critical to station operations, Navias said, as another one of the supply craft is docked at the station now.

Further attempts to dock with the space station have been ruled out for today, NASA said.

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