Astronauts are prepping to leave -- but not shutdown -- the International Space Station (NASA)
MOSCOW – A Russian cargo spacecraft with a malfunctioning antenna has docked with the International Space Station, and officials say the problem isn't expected to prevent unloading the food, fuel, oxygen and equipment aboard.
The unmanned Progress cargo ship failed to deploy one of its antennas after it was launched on Wednesday. On Friday, it joined up with the orbiting space lab, according to video from Russian mission control.
But the maneuver was what's called a "soft docking" — the capture of the cargo ship by the space station. Crew on the station and ground controllers were assessing whether the undeployed antenna would interfere with the "hard docking," in which the air seal between the station and the cargo ship is opened.
No signs of interference were immediately reported.
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