March 28, 2024

On This Day in Space! Jan. 20, 1978: 1st Progress cargo delivery ship launched

On Jan. 20, 1978, the Soviet area program released the very first Progress cargo ship on a mission to delivery supplies to the Salyut 6 area station. Ever since, more than 150 Progress spacecrafts have introduced freight to teams aboard the International Space Station as well as earlier, smaller space stations developed by Russia and the Soviet Union. A Russian Soyuz rocket releases the Progress 78 cargo resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on June 29, 2021 at 7:27 p.m. EDT (2327 GMT). (Image credit: NASA TV) Progress 1 carried almost 3,000 pounds. of food, water, clinical equipment and extra parts to the two-person team aboard Salyut 6. The cosmonauts unloaded the cargo– then filled the spacecraft with garbage and sent it off to burn up in Earths environment. Catch up on our whole “On This Day In Space” series on YouTube with this playlist. On This Day in Space Archive! Still insufficient area? Do not forget to take a look at our Space Image of the Day, and on the weekends our Best Space Photos and Top Space News Stories of the week. Email Hanneke Weitering at [email protected] or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook..