| Mission type | Mir resupply |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 1993-034A |
| SATCAT no. | 22666 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Progress-M 11F615A55 |
| Manufacturer | NPO Energia |
| Launch mass | 7,250 kilograms (15,980 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 22 May 1993, 06:41:47 UTC |
| Rocket | Soyuz-U2 |
| Launch site | Baikonur Site 1/5 |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Deorbited |
| Decay date | 4 July 1993 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee altitude | 388 kilometres (241 mi)[1] |
| Apogee altitude | 390 kilometres (240 mi)[1] |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
| Docking with Mir | |
| Docking port | Core Forward |
| Docking date | 24 May 1993, 08:24:44 UTC |
| Undocking date | 3 July 1993, 15:58:16 UTC |
| Time docked | 40 days |
Progress M-18 (Russian: Прогресс М-18) was a Russian cargo uncrewed spacecraft which was launched in 1993 to resupply the Mir space station.[2] The thirty-sixth of sixty four Progress spacecraft to visit Mir, it used the Progress-M 11F615A55 configuration,[3] and had the serial number 218.[4] It carried supplies including food, water and oxygen for the EO-13 crew aboard Mir, as well as equipment for conducting scientific research, and fuel for adjusting the station's orbit and performing manoeuvres.
Progress M-18 was launched at 06:41:47 GMT on 22 May 1993, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.[4] It was the last Progress spacecraft to be launched on a Soyuz-U2. Following two days of free flight, it docked with the Forward port of Mir's core module at 08:24:44 GMT on 24 May.[5][6]
During the 40 days for which Progress M-18 was docked, Mir was in an orbit of around 388 by 390 kilometres (210 by 211 nmi), inclined at 51.6 degrees.[1] Progress M-18 undocked from Mir at 15:58:16 GMT on 3 July; less than half an hour before Soyuz TM-17 docked with the port which it had vacated. It was deorbited around a day later, to a destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean.[1][5] Before undocking, a VBK-Raduga capsule launched aboard Progress M-17 had been installed on Progress M-18, and this separated once the deorbit burn was complete. The capsule landed successfully at 17:13 GMT.[5]
- ^ a b c d McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ "Progress M-18". NSSDC Master Catalog. US National Space Science Data Center. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Progress-M 1 - 13, 15 - 37, 39 - 67 (11F615A55, 7KTGM)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ a b McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ a b c Anikeev, Alexander. "Cargo spacecraft "Progress M-18"". Manned Astronautics - Figures & Facts. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ Wade, Mark. "Progress M". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2009-07-10. Retrieved 2009-09-02.