MOSCOW, May 21. Soyuz-2.1a rocket with cargo spacecraft Progress MS -23″, which will deliver to the International Space Station a working place for open space, a Bauman nanosatellite with a solar sail and equipment for an experiment on growing crystals, was installed on the launch pad of the Baikonur cosmodrome, Roscosmos reported on Sunday in the Telegram channel.
«The Soyuz rocket with Progress at the launch! After installing the Soyuz-2.1a in a vertical position at the launch complex of the 31st site, Roscosmos specialists continued to prepare it for launch,» the state corporation said in a statement.
The launch of the rocket is scheduled for 15.56 Moscow time on May 24th.
Roscosmos reported that the truck would deliver about 2.5 tons of cargo to the ISS, including almost 500 kilograms of fuel for refueling the station, 630 kilograms of drinking water and 40 kilograms of nitrogen. Also, resource equipment and tools, consumables, clothing, food and sanitary and hygiene products were packed into Progress.
The spacecraft will bring to the station the universal workstation URM-D, which the cosmonauts will install on the outer surface of the Zvezda module of the Russian segment of the ISS during their spacewalk. Another work in outer space will be the launch of the Parus-MGTU nanosatellite, which will be used to test the solar sail technology. The satellite and launcher will also be delivered by Progress MS-23.
In addition, a video spectral system for observing the earth's surface for the Uragan experiment, glove box «Glavbox-S», equipment and equipment for the experiments «Aseptic», «Splanch», «Correction», «Neuroimmunity», «Separation» and the experiment on growing homogeneous crystals «Vampire».
The rocket was painted with images dedicated to the 300th anniversary of Perm and the 60th anniversary of the flight of the first woman (Valentina Tereshkova) into space. Tereshkova's three-day flight on the Vostok-6 spacecraft took place on June 16-19, 1963.