The cargo spacecraft Progress MS-01 was deliberately undocked from the International Space Station on at 0545 on 1 July. The idea was for the spacecraft to pull away and then use a new version of the Toru remote manual control system with new software and a new signal converter, to redock the craft on the station’s Pirs module at 0610 GMT. The Toru system is used when the Kurs automatic docking system is unavailable.
While the redocking was apparently successful, the spacecraft was seen to wobble as it docked. It later transpired that while a thruster firing in the X-direction was driving the docking home, a unintended firing of a Y-direction thruster induced a bending movement to the system – an anomaly which might have caused damage to the craft. An investigation is now underway to understand the anomaly. In the meantime, Progress MS-01 undocked from the ISS ready for its disposal into the Pacific.
