Unmanned Space Capsule Overshoots International Space Station

A Russian capsule that was supposed to land at the International Space Station missed its landing and now NASA is trying to determine what happened. The unmanned capsule was scheduled to land on the station around 1pm but 25 minutes before the scheduled docking, the navigational lock was lost. The capsule has been named  the Progress 38.

The Progress 38 was carrying nearly 2.5 tons of fresh food, clothing, equipment and various other supplies for those aboard the ISS. Currently, there are six people aboard the space station. The spacecraft passed within a couple of miles of the space station but the crew was unable to gain control of the capsule. Rob Navias of NASA explains that because of the orbit, there will most likely not be another chance to get the Progress 38 docked for at least two days. The Progress 38 was launched on Wednesday from Kazakhstan.

Vitaly Davydov, Russian space agency deputy stated the ISS lost the radio link with the Progress when the space station commander attempted to activate a backup docking system. The ISS will attempt to use the radio link to dock the Progress 38 via remote control on Sunday. If the attempt fails, there will be a manual attempt. The Russian agency also points out that the ISS and its crew members were never in any danger from the capsule despite some early reports. The failed docking attempt was caught on live video feed. The supplies being delivered are not deemed critical to the crew on board the ISS.