Mar 4 1997
From The Space Library
The unpiloted cargo spacecraft Progress M-33 failed in its planned docking with the Mir space station, forcing Russian space officials to decide whether to allow the cargo craft to burn up in the atmosphere or to try again to connect with Mir. The docking of Progress M-33, which only had some surplus fuel aboard, was not of critical importance to Mir, but Russian Space Agency scientists had planned to use the craft's docked mass to adjust the trajectory of Mir. News of the failure of the Progress's docking tempered Russia's celebration of its first satellite launch from a new cosmodrome in Svobody, occurring on the same day. On 6 March, the saga ended, when Russian officials decided to let the Progress M-33 drift off to burn up in the atmosphere.
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